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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27496081">Days Like Masquerades</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightSatellite/pseuds/StarlightSatellite'>StarlightSatellite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Overwatch (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Yes that includes Moira and Siebren), Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Band, Bullying, Canon Autistic Character, Co-Workers to Friends to Lovers, Depression, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, I see your science nerds but have you considered music nerds instead?, Insecurity, M/M, Moira as Chamber Orchestra Director, Moira is Emily's Aunt/Guardian, Multiple Trans Characters, Mutual Pining, Orchestra, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other relationships get some focus as well, Past Relationship(s), Past Siebren/Harold, Polyamory, Relationship(s), Siebren as Symphonic Band Director, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, The entire cast is queer for the most part lmao, maestro!Siebren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:09:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>47,672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27496081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightSatellite/pseuds/StarlightSatellite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Siebren de Kuiper decides to come out of retirement, taking up a band director job at a local high school on a whim in order to keep himself busy. In addition to meeting and getting to teach a wide assortment of bright (and not so bright) young minds, he also finds himself drawn to the strict and demanding orchestra director, Dr. Moira O'Deorain. </p><p>Despite a somewhat rough start, the two might have a lot more in common than they initially think, coming together to confront the past, insecurities, grief and worst of all: teenagers!</p><p>What will come of their first school year together?</p><p>or...</p><p>the SigMoira High School Band Class AU that no one asked for but, in the end, didn't know they needed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Brigitte Lindholm/Hana "D.Va" Song, Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix, Fareeha "Pharah" Amari/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, Moira O'Deorain/Sigma | Siebren de Kuiper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Here For Nothing Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>As with most things, this started as a joke.</p><p>Remember when that Maestro Sigma skin was first revealed? While everyone else was fawning over it, I was losing my shit because he looked exactly like my high school band director but just buff. </p><p>So I started joking with my friend that Siebren was just our band director. In addition, my band director used to work with this middle school teacher during marching band season and in my mind, I was like, haha what if that was Moira. So the joke became, haha what if Siebren and Moira were our band directors. And then it turned into, what if Siebren was the band director and Moira the orchestra director of a high school (and this was before I saw that Moira violin spray). </p><p>Finally, it stopped being a joke and I was like, wait. There's a lot of potential behind that idea and here we are.</p><p>This is a slow burn fic that I've been/am still developing on my free time for the past couple months now. So it does have a direction in terms of where it's going. Finally started writing it a bit in between the Kinktobers that I have to finish up. It just helps my creative juices not focus on just pure smut the entire time and serves as a break from it when I need to. </p><p>You can thank @BearKumaOso1 on Twitter for somehow getting me into SigMoira. Got dammit. How?</p><p>Anyway, let's dive into this treat, yeah?</p><p>(Yes, the title of the fic is a reference to the "The Academy Is..." band song of same name. I like using song titles as fic titles. Sue me. But actually don't because I don't own shit.)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was waiting for it to appear any moment now. A sign from the universe that would ease his anxious head by letting him know that he was making the right decision.</p><p>Unfortunately for Siebren De Kuiper, he had been waiting for that sign for quite some time now. He had hoped that it would’ve arrived with the renewal of his K-12 teaching license. Or when he was anxiously waiting for his chance to be interviewed on that one particularly humid day. Perhaps he missed it when he was told that he was the most qualified for the position and ended up getting the job right then and there. Did it slip in while he was in the middle of filling out the tedious paperwork, in between the prevention of mistakes under the initial surprise of it all?</p><p>Now that he thinks about it, he felt like he would’ve known if he missed it.</p><p>Either way, he would push forward like he did before and hope to see it somewhere down the line. It had worked for him thus far, so why not keep going?  Besides, he hadn’t seen any signs telling him <em>not</em> to. Maybe that <em>was</em> the sign in of itself?</p><p>Siebren decided that he had enough of his little pep talk, deciding to take things, quite literally, with one small step as he stood up out of his truck. Giving himself a chance to properly stretch out his formerly constricted limbs, he reminded himself of his briefcase and bag lunch as he reached back in towards the front passenger seat to retrieve them. Shutting the door behind him and locking the car, he started making his way down one of the rows of vehicles in the parking lot, all while getting a good look at his destination: Athena High School.</p><p>A middle of the road sized public high school with an equally middle of the road sized population of students and teachers alike. Not too big to be too overwhelming, but not too small to be too little for what he was looking for. Something just right and simple enough to keep his mind busy as well as give him a purpose to get out of bed every day. The latter of which was something he desperately needed these days.</p><p>Luckily, this new but familiar experience should fit the bill just fine.</p><p>Speaking of experience, it was when he was nearing the front doors of the high school that he was starting to feel the displacement of age. Even though he had gotten here at least an hour before school actually started, he noticed that there were already a few students waiting outside for the building to properly open. Some mingled among others while a few were off on their own, occupied with whatever was so interesting on their phones.</p><p>Although, nothing would be as nearly mildly interesting on them as he made his way towards the home stretch to the front doors. Curious heads began to turn his way as he was making his way into the building, some whispering to others in their respective groups and pointing his way. To be fair, it wasn’t every day that someone as big and tall as him would be seen existing so commonly. He had grown quite used to it over the years, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that these stares felt a bit different.</p><p>Mainly, it felt as though he was being sized up, which, coming from teenagers, <em>meant a lot</em>.</p><p>Not wanting to give in and show weakness, knowing how bloodthirsty teenagers can be, he simply gave a small smile and a curt wave. It had to sat in the air for a few moments before he got the reaction he had hoped for as some students exchanged curious smiles and waves themselves. Others didn’t even seem care or even fully acknowledge it in the first place.</p><p>Fair. He was probably as strange to them as they were to him.</p><p>Hurriedly stepping through the glass and steel doors, he felt relieved. Although he could still feel eyes on him, it felt a bit better knowing that something physical was in between him and their gaze. That feeling was quickly pushed aside however as a new feeling entered the fray, looking around at the space ahead and trying to get his surroundings.</p><p>The lobby of the entrance opened up into a vast, open and carpeted space filled with different chairs and end tables, lit mainly through natural light from the large panes of glass on the right-hand side. If he remembered correctly, he remembered the person who ran his interview calling it the “town hall” space. He definitely recalled anxiously waiting there in one of the surprisingly comfy and relaxing chairs. Comfort really helped ease the pre interview jitters.</p><p>Staircases ran parallel on both sides of the open area, leading left upwards to the second-floor hallway and creating a balcony of sorts for the classrooms that occupied that space. Beyond the space and behind the furthest staircase was what appeared to be a large cafeteria. To his left and right, and just before the open area, were two hallways leading to either ends of the rest of the school.</p><p>Acting as a sort of main hub to all the different paths that snaked throughout the school, Siebren held no doubt that this area would see a growing increase in traffic as the day progressed. He was quite thankful the area wasn’t nearly as full as it could’ve been, not knowing if he could handle such a big crowd of people yet. For now, he could only spot a handful of faculty and school staff wandering about as they prepared for the big day ahead.</p><p>Some of the aforementioned staff’s attention was on a man in a tan double piece suit who was standing near the large windowpanes. Siebren could immediately tell that this man was of great importance within the school as most of their gazes wandered over to him before exchanging friendly waves from across the space. Even from this distance, he could see the handsome and friendly smile strewn across his face.</p><p>Unfortunately, Siebren was quite stumped with who this mystery man might be as he never met him during his interview. His interview was conducted by the principal and assistant principal combo of the school, Dr. Amari and Dr. Morrison respectively. This man clearly didn’t fit their profiles but still looked to be on the same level of importance as them. Perhaps he was one of their colleagues? Siebren did recall that the two talked about a third person in command of the school who wasn’t able to make it to his interview. Although, he was unable to recall the name of said individual.</p><p>Either way, Siebren figured that their paths would cross eventually throughout his first day as he focused back on the task at hand. He was tasked with reporting to the main office in order to get…something from them. What exactly this “something” was, he couldn’t remember, his only knowledge being that it was important in some way. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the last of his memory issues as he also forgot exactly where the main office was. Thank goodness he got here with some time to spare because he was sure as heck going to need it in his little search.</p><p>Before he could even begin to think about his next move and where to go, Siebren heard someone calling for another as he was pulled from his thoughts. Once again, the first thing to catch his eye as he looked up was the man in the tan suit who seemed to be making his way straight towards him, waving Siebren down at a speed walking pace.</p><p>Looks like “eventually” was going to be right now. Not that he was complaining. If anyone could help him out right now, it’d probably be this man.</p><p>The man slowed down as he stepped up to him, whistling low with a charismatic smile and eyeing up a suddenly self-conscious Siebren from head to toe. “Wow, I thought Jack was just messing with me when he said how tall you were. Guess I owe him a couple of bucks.” </p><p>“P-Pardon?” Siebren quizzically asked, wishing there was more context behind the man’s words.  </p><p>“That’s right! We never actually met formally, did we? Where are my manners?” He laughed, extending and presenting his hand for a shake. “Assistant principal Dr. Gabriel Reyes. I was still on vacation with my daughter while you were being interviewed. I’ve heard about you from my counterparts.”</p><p>“Oh, I see!” His eyes lit up, finally putting the face to the person who had been emailing him and other staff members throughout the weeks leading up to today. “Well, it’s a pleasure to make your acquittance as well as finally meet you, Dr. Reyes.”</p><p>“No need for formalities, call me whatever floats your boat, mister…?”</p><p>It took a second before Siebren realized it was, in fact, his turn to introduce himself as he took Reyes’ hand in his before giving, what he hopefully assumed was, a confident shake. “Oh! Siebren. Er, um, <em>Dr</em>. Siebren de Kuiper, that is. But you can just call me Siebren.”</p><p>“Siebren! That’s right! Nice to finally meet you too.” Dr. Reyes smiled up at him, shaking his hand in return. “Quick question. Mind if I call you ‘maestro’?”</p><p>“Maestro?”</p><p>“Yeah, seeing as though you’re our new band director and everything! You definitely look the part with that Beethoven hair going on up there.” He said, gesturing up to Siebren’s head of white kempt hair. “Plus, I give everyone a nickname to make up for the fact that I can barely remember anyone’s real name for the life of me!”</p><p>The older man not only found himself laughing at Dr. Reyes’ expense, but also found himself relating to the whole “not remembering names part”. He did better with remembering distinct faces and features compared to the jumble of letters that were names.</p><p>“Oh, I don’t mind the nickname at all! I quite understand the struggle when it comes to remembering names!”</p><p>“Awesome! ‘Maestro’ it is, then! Which reminds me, we finally have your teacher’s badge all nice and printed in the main office. Just in time, too! If you’ll follow me, we can get that to you right now.”</p><p>Siebren nodded in acknowledgement as the two traveled the short distance to the main office, only located to the right of the main entrance. Thank goodness Dr. Reyes reminded him of his badge or else he would’ve completely forgotten about it. Having only properly met the man a few minutes ago, Siebren was already starting to feel quite comfortable around him. No doubt the assistant principal was trying to ease him back into a school environment as best he could, something he took note of and greatly appreciated.</p><p>Upon stepping into the main office, Dr. Reyes stepped up to, what Siebren could only guess was, the office secretary’s desk. The younger woman behind the desk didn’t even look up from her computer screen, let alone pay any mind to the two as she continued to swiftly type away on her desktop computer.</p><p>“Hey, V, quick question. Do you know where that fresh batch of badges that just came in the other day are?” Dr. Reyes asked.</p><p>“Each of the badges were delivered to the teachers’ respective mailbox.” She answered without hesitation, finishing up one last sentence before looking up at her colleague with her attention instead falling on Siebren. “Oh, wow! Is this…?”</p><p>“Our new band director? Why, yes. Yes, he is.” Dr. Reyes beamed, casually introducing him.</p><p>“I’m sure you must get all sorts of comments on your height but wow, you’re really tall! You’re like an entire mountain of a man!” The woman only known as V exclaimed, standing up from her seat to take in his full height.</p><p>“Oh no, I’m more than used to it at this point in time.” Siebren warmly smiled, extending out his hand for her. “Dr. Siebren de Kuiper. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss?”</p><p>Taking his huge hand in her tiny in comparison one, the two exchanged firm handshakes as “V” took a second to properly introduce herself.</p><p>“Ms. Sojourn, and likewise, Dr. de Kuiper.” She said, comparing her own hand in his. “I work in attendance and general secretary stuff. Nothing too serious, but I kind of keep things from falling apart into total chaos around here.”</p><p>“It’s true.” Dr. Reyes spoke up. “You would’ve been walking into a pile of ruins earlier by if we didn’t have her expertise around here to help us out.” </p><p>“I see.” Siebren commented, one important thing standing out in his mind. “Pardon me, Ms. Sojourn, but how does one get the nickname “V” from such a uniquely wonderful name?”</p><p>She only raised her hands in playful defense before shifting attention towards her grinning colleague. “Don’t look at me. <em>He </em>came up with it and I just sort of rolled with it.”</p><p>Siebren’s attention turned towards Dr. Reyes in the hopes of finding an answer to this “mystery”.</p><p>“Well, <em>if you must know</em>, I call her “V” because she’s always doing five things at any given time to keep this place afloat. You know? Cause the letter V is the Roman numeral for five? Eh?”</p><p>“Oh, I…guess I get it?” Siebren sheepishly smiled.</p><p>“Is that <em>really </em>the origin of my nickname? Cause if so, that’s pretty lame, even by your standards, Gabe.” Ms. Sojourn said, trying not to facepalm in front of the two.</p><p>“Hey! Cut me some slack! Coming up with nicknames is a lot harder than you’d think.” Dr. Reyes defended his choice. “We can’t all be blessed with cool nicknames like ‘Maestro’ here!”</p><p>“Oh, <em>I’m sure</em>.” She said with a roll of her eyes as she crossed her arms. “But ‘Maestro’ is definitely one of your better ones. Suits him pretty well considering his Beethoven-esque hair.”</p><p>“I know, right? That’s what I said!”</p><p>A hearty laugh was shared between the trio as Siebren was actually feeling really good about his new work environment. The morning wasn’t even over yet and he had already made, what he hoped were, new friends among new coworkers. If this was just the beginning of his day, what would the rest of it carry for him?</p><p>“Well, anyways, I have to get back to what I was doing and I’m sure you two have plenty of things to do for the big day ahead.” Ms. Sojourn remarked as she began to sit back down in her seat. “Don’t hesitate to come and find me if you need anything, <em>Maestro</em>. Have a great first day back to school!”</p><p>“Of course, thank you for the offer. And you as well.” Siebren nodded to her as Dr. Reyes began to lead him towards the teachers’ mailboxes that sat outside a row of various offices.</p><p>Together, the two began searching for his particular mailbox, figuring their search effort would go a lot faster with two pairs of eyes. Unsurprisingly, Dr. Reyes was the first to find it somewhere in the middle row of the different mailbox slots, pointing out the position to him. In addition to finding it first, he was also the first to react to the picture of Siebren on the badge itself, poorly stifling a chuckle as he handed it to him along with the school issued lanyard.</p><p>Upon seeing the photo for himself, Siebren could see why, unable to stop himself from giving a light chuckle as well.</p><p>Ok sure, the photo badge photo wasn’t exactly the best picture of him, considering it was taken in the middle of a humid summer afternoon. While he was more presentable earlier in that day, he found his interview attire succumb to the heat and sweat in the long wait to get his picture taken at the school county’s central office. A long wait made all the more arduous as the building’s air conditioning was out for repairs.</p><p>He just looked <em>so</em> miserable in his photo, obviously doing his best to remain the least bit positive under those past circumstances. In fact, if he squinted just enough, Siebren could just make out a couple beads of sweat across his forehead in the tiny portrait on the badge. Oh well, it was good enough for him at the end of the day as the badge was priimarily meant for function rather than form.</p><p>There were certainly <em>worse </em>pictures taken of him the more he thought about it as he began to fiddle with the lanyard as he attempted to clip the badge into it.</p><p>“Great! Now you’re all set for your first day back to school!” Dr. Reyes exclaimed as finally he succeeded in clipping the badge. “Do you know which way you’re headed in order to get to the musical arts department?”</p><p>“Um…not really? I’m afraid I wasn’t given a proper tour of the school, let alone given a clue as to where that might be.” Siebren shook his head, knowing full well that he would probably get lost in the endless maze of hallways and classrooms. “I would greatly appreciate some sort of guidance in the right direction, if it isn’t any trouble to you, of course?</p><p>“Of course, I don’t mind at all! I mean, it’s sort of my job to make sure everyone knows where they’re going, including you! We can head on over right now. It’s not too far from where we a-oh, hold up.” Dr. Reyes paused mid-sentence, reaching into his pocket to pull out his currently vibrating phone before checking the caller ID with a somewhat concerned look. “Ah, excuse me for one second here, ‘Maestro’. It’s my daughter. Let me just see what she needs real quick…“</p><p>“Of course, I understand. Go right ahead. I certainly won’t be going anywhere!” Siebren smiled.</p><p>Dr. Reyes gave him a quick thumbs up before swiping across the screen, placing his cell phone to his ear as he turned around for a small bit of privacy.</p><p>“Hello? Is everything alright, <em>mija</em>?” He asked, voice full of fatherly concern before dropping into a lightly annoyed tone. “Wait…seriously? It’s the <em>first day</em>, how did you already forget your lunch? I thought you said you had it before we left home?”</p><p>Even though Siebren was trying to give his supervisor the privacy and space he needed, he couldn’t help but get a tiny bit invested in this conversation from this end. He also double checked to make sure he still had his own bag lunch in hand.</p><p>“No, I’m not going to drive you all the way back home so you can get it. I told you that today was going to be a busy day like always. See? This is why I was on you about getting your license over the summer so we could avoid situations like this. Bet you wished you listened to me now, huh?”</p><p>Siebren never understood why anyone <em>wouldn’t </em>want to get their license as soon as possible. The promise of freedom and sense of independence was more than enough for him to pursue his as soon as he was able to at a younger age. But he also recognized how daunting the process might be as well as where the hesitation might come from. Independence and growing up go hand in hand and growing up is scary.</p><p>“Alright. Yes, I know. Ok, how about this? I have…” Dr. Reyes put the phone in between his shoulder and ear before rummaging through his pockets and producing a couple of dollar bills. “…twelve dollars and some change on my person right now. If I get this to you right now, you should have enough time to go to the 7-Eleven down the hill and make it back with plenty of time before the first bell. I’m in the main office right now. And please hurry up, I have something very important I need to deal with right now. Ok? Alright, see you soon.”</p><p>Dr. Reyes returned his phone to his pocket with an audible sigh before turning around to face Siebren once more.</p><p>“Sorry about that. She forgot her lunch at home, once again.” He apologized, rubbing the back of his head. “Also, I’m afraid that our little tour is on hold for the moment. At least until she hopefully gets here soon enough to get this money from me.</p><p>Before Siebren could explain his understanding of the situation, a voice interjected from behind Dr. Reyes, easily catching the two of them off guard.</p><p>“You can focus your worries on Olivia for right now, Gabriel. I can show Dr. de Kuiper where he’s headed.”</p><p>Surprisingly, this voice belonged to someone Siebren was already somewhat familiar with. That person being the head principal of Athena High School: Dr. Ana Amari. She was one of the two who conducted his interview and as Siebren fondly remembered her for her strong and kin motherly vibe. Something she displayed in earnest as she brushed past Dr. Reyes in favor of wrapping Siebren into a tight and warm hug that he couldn’t just say no to.</p><p>“It’s so nice to see you again. How have you been, Dr. de Kuiper?” She asked, her embrace tightening.</p><p>Siebren returned the gesture before the two pulled away as he answered, “I’m doing just fine, Dr. Amari. I was just getting to know your colleague, Dr. Reyes, a bit better. He was just about to show me to the music department.”</p><p>“That’s good to hear and of course.” She softly smiled. “Although it seems he is unable to currently, hence why I am here to take his place.”</p><p>“Are you sure about that?” Dr. Reyes quickly asked. “Olivia should be here within the next five minutes and I’m sure you’ve plenty to do before the day ahead, Ana. Seriously, it’s no big deal. We’ll be on our way soon enough.”</p><p>“It’s quite alright, Gabriel. I know how much free time I have.” Dr. Amari assured with a hand on his shoulder. “Besides, I wanted to personally check in on Dr. de Kuiper and to see he transitions smoothly back into the school environment. You just worry about your daughter. I’m fine with handling this.”</p><p>Dr. Reyes knew better than to argue with her any further as he simply nodded to her in response before his attention returned to Siebren.</p><p>“Well, ‘Maestro’, hope you have a great first day of school.” He extended his hand out once more for Siebren. “If you need me, I’ll be all around the school throughout today. Things are going to get <em>pretty </em>chaotic here soon but don’t hesitate to reach out to me, ok?”</p><p>Shaking his hand with a much more confident grip this time, Siebren nodded before saying, “Of course. Once again, it was very nice to finally meet you Dr. Reyes. Hope your first day goes well too! As well as everything with your daughter!”</p><p>With that, Dr. Amari led Siebren out of the main office and into the hallways of the soon to be bustling school. Although he still hadn’t seen the sign he was looking for, he was feeling a lot more confident in choice to come back to school. Especially with all the friendly face he had the pleasure of meeting this early in the morning.</p><p>Perhaps today wouldn't be as bad as he initially thought?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Here For Nothing Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Angela is worried about getting to school late, but not for the reason you may think. </p><p>Dr. Amari helps ease Siebren's nerves in conversation. </p><p>He also gets a chance to make his first impression on a certain Dr. O'Deorain.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry. This took a bit longer than it should've. I've been dealing with a break up for the past couple weeks as well as health issues that occurred as a result. I really didn't have the energy to write even though I really wanted to. Physical doing better than last week with that fever. Mentally? Eh. I'm managing.  </p><p>Anyway, back to this little fic. </p><p>Thank you for the initial positive response. I'm glad this story is able to fulfill that weird niche lol.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If there was one thing clear to Angela Ziegler, it’s that you could never fully trust the public transportation system to get you anywhere on time, let alone at a decent pace. Checking her phone as she carefully held the professional case containing her violin in between her knees, she was unfortunately going to be a bit late in getting to school on time.</p><p>Well, technically she would still arrive at school well before the first bell of the day would even ring. However, if she was being quite honest, the first day of her sophomore year paled in comparison to the importance of the private lesson she currently had scheduled before the school day would even start. This time was currently 7:42 with her lesson having started a mere 2 minutes ago. The bus still had two more stops, or roughly 5 minutes give or take, before it would arrive at school</p><p>Even if she hauled ass straight into the building as soon as she got there, the earliest she could get to her lesson would be 7:47. If that was the case, her teacher wasn’t going to be very happy about the wasted potential of precious lesson time together. At this point in time, Angela fully accepted the fact that she was more than likely going to be critiqued for her tardiness upon her eventual arrival.</p><p>But in her defense, public transportation was only doing its primary function, being unreliable for the millions of denizens who used it every day. Although, having used it for most of her life now, she really should’ve known better than to rely it and really should’ve left earlier than she did today. Angela had been catching public transportation to school since what? Late elementary school? Yeah, that sounds about right, since 4<sup>th</sup> grade.</p><p>Angela’s parents simply didn’t have the time in their schedules to take and pick up their daughter from school, what with both of them being doctors in highly specialized fields. Come to think of it, it seemed as though her parents really didn’t have a lot of time for <em>her</em>. Not that she could blame them, however, seeing as though her mother was a trauma surgeon and her father an anesthesiologist. Both of them worked an insane number of hours in any given week, so much so that she would barely see them at home sometimes.</p><p>It certainly wasn’t all bad considering just how independent she had become as a result, especially for a high schooler. She was more than able to take care of herself, having been doing so since middle school for the most part. She had to do things by herself, pretty much. Whether that be cooking or cleaning for herself, or even scheduling her own therapy and psychiatry appointments. Hell, she could probably fill out taxes if you gave her the chance.</p><p>Angela was doing a lot, perhaps a lot more than others her age. Despite having to mainly care for herself, she was still a solid A to B student, making honor roll and sometimes the principal’s list every quarter. In between that and fulfilling her own basic needs, Angela practiced violin religiously for an hour, or two, almost every day of the week. It was something her orchestra director took note of, promoting Angela to principal violinist for the school’s orchestra at the end of her freshmen year.</p><p>It was, and still is, a huge achievement that she somehow managed to accomplish.</p><p>Even with how busy she was, Angela was also able to maintain a decent social status among her many peers. She even found the time and space to pursue a romantic relationship with her wonderful girlfriend of just a few months, Fareeha, who had asked her out just before school ended for summer vacation last semester.</p><p>Somehow, Angela was able to manage it all, probably due in part to the medication she took for depression and anxiety. She didn’t know what kind of head space she would be if she didn’t have them. The difference between being on them and not being on them was more than just night and day.</p><p>Eventually, the bus arrived at the stop across the street from the west entrance of her high school at the exact time she predicted. The stop’s placement couldn’t be anymore perfect seeing as though the school’s music department was literally right next to the entrance. Looking for an opportunity through the mild traffic that would only grow within the next hour or so, Angela made a mad dash towards the entrance, effortlessly gliding up the small set of stairs and inside the building.</p><p>Even with an unfaltering pace, her stride barely had enough time to open up before she made a sharp right turn down the department’s hallway. Quickly realizing that her orchestra director was a stickler for rules, she did her best to gradually slow her pace down upon reaching said director’s office. Angela only gave two sharp knocks before twisting the handle to the door and barging on in. She was more than expected at this point.</p><p>Almost immediately as she opened the door, Angela could feel the unpleased heterochromatic gaze of her director as she took her seat in front of the lone music stand. Dr. Moira O’Deorain remained seated behind her desk, leaning forward with elbows on the desk as interlocked and bony fingers hid her mouth from view. Even if she couldn’t see it, Angela would probably bet on the fact that she held some variation of frown behind her hands.</p><p>Dr. O’Deorain was the first to break the silence between them, her impatient voice containing the right amount of disappointment that Angela more than expected at this point. “You’re late, Ms. Ziegler. Precisely 8 minutes late.”</p><p>“Ah, my apologies, Dr. O’Deorain.” She said, already in the process of getting her violin and bow out of her case. “My bus was running slightly behind schedule. I could’ve gotten here on time had it not been the case.”</p><p>Dr. O’Deorain let out a neutral hum before elegantly rising from her desk chair, placing her hands behind her back as she went to join Angela at her side.</p><p>“Even if you did get here ‘<em>on time</em>’, I’m afraid that you still would’ve been late for our lesson.”</p><p>The young blonde gave her teacher a somewhat confused look as she went to get her sheet music out, unconsciously letting out an audible, “Huh?”</p><p>“Haven’t you heard of the old saying when it comes to the practice of musical arts, Ms. Ziegler?” Dr. O’Deorain asked, almost as if Angela should’ve known what she was talking about in the first place.</p><p>“The old saying, Dr. O’Deorain?”</p><p>“Mm. To be on time is to be late and to be early is to be on time.” She recalled as the old adage effortlessly rolled off her tongue. “Meaning the only way for you to be ‘on time’ is to be here well before our lesson starts.”</p><p>“Oh. I see.” Angela meekly stated, realizing that she would have to reconstruct her entire morning routine in order to a catch an even earlier bus to school on dedicated private lesson days. “I’ll…move my schedule around so I can make that happen. I’ll try not be late again, Dr. O’Deorain.”</p><p>Dr. O’Deorain gave her a look that would’ve sent a chill up the spine of the person on the receiving end, causing them to shrink further into the seat. Angela, one the other hand, sat unperturbed, violin and bow in her lap as she awaited the next instruction. Dr. O’Deorain’s hypercritical eye didn’t have the same effect on Angela that it did for other students anymore. She had grown quite used to it at this point in time, what with spending so much time around her.</p><p>She wasn’t the shy and innocent little freshman from the year prior. If anything, personally dealing with Dr. O’Deorain on an almost daily basis unconsciously helped Angela harden and grow out of her shell.  </p><p>“See to it that you aren’t, Ms. Ziegler.” Dr. O’Deorain sighed, retracting her gaze as she crossed her arms in front. “As I’m sure you know by now, I expect <em>a lot</em> from every single member of this orchestra, and you are certainly no exception. You hold a very important position in our overall framework as principal violinist. I need to know that I can rely on you for this.”</p><p>“Yes. I understand, Dr. O’Deorain.” Angela said, nodding her head vehemently. “I’ll do whatever it takes in order to make that happen.”</p><p>“Good.” Dr. O’Deorain simply stated with a nod of her head. Although her stoic look barely gave any emotion to work off, Angela could tell that she was satisfied from the tone of her voice. “Quickly get warmed up so that we may finally begin our lesson together.”</p><p>Their lesson had already lost a substantial amount of time due to Angela’s tardiness but the two would make do with the rest of the time they had together. They should have an uninterrupted twenty minutes alone before the early school day would properly begin around 8:00 a.m. The lesson would only consist of a few run throughs of major scales before going over a few pieces of music that Dr. O’Deorain picked out for this semester ahead.</p><p>Nothing too complicated. Just something nice and simple that shouldn’t take all too long. Given the luxury that no distractions happen to pop up anytime within the already short period of time. But there’s no way that would happen, right?</p><p>===</p><p>“So, in all honesty, how are you <em>really </em>feeling, Dr. de Kuiper?” Dr. Amari casually asked, walking side by side with Siebren down the hallway west of the school’s entrance.</p><p>The question caught Siebren a bit off guard, seeing as though the seemingly simple question usually held some sort of loaded answer behind it nowadays. There was always a lot on his mind at any given moment, with this particular moment being no different from the rest.</p><p>However, any attempt that could possibly be made in lying would immediately be shot down by Dr. Amari and her ability to see through almost anything. Being in the position of school principal, there was no doubt that she’s heard plenty of lies throughout the time. If she could see past the white lies of teenagers, she could just as easily see through bullshit of adults. Besides, Siebren seldom had the heart to lie to anyone about anything nowadays.</p><p>Plus, if he was being quite honest, despite this only being his second time meeting her, he already felt plenty comfortable around Dr. Amari. She just carried around that warm and motherly vibe that you couldn’t just help but accept into your life. It felt nice to know that she was such a genuine person.</p><p>“In all honesty?” He asked, looking over at the principal who simply hummed in acknowledgement. “I can’t help but feel equal parts excited and worried about being back in a school environment. I didn’t realize how much I had missed it on my way in today.”</p><p>“Really puts those three years away into perspective?”</p><p>“Y-Yeah. It kind of does, doesn’t it?” He said, recalling all that time in his head. “Although it certainly felt much longer than that.”</p><p>“I’d imagine so.” Dr. Amari commented, reaching over to give his arm a comforting squeeze.</p><p>Oof, it had really been three years since he last taught anyone in general. Before his, what he now calls his, “premature retirement”, he was one of the head music professors at a quaint little university up north. Coming out of retirement, Siebren made it clear to himself that he didn’t want to just jump straight back into undergraduate level courses. He wasn’t completely sure that he was ready to go back there, even if the university still graciously held a tenure spot for him.</p><p>It was part of the reason why he downgraded to the lower public-school system, mainly with it being much simpler in comparison.</p><p>Even though Siebren had to choose between three different levels of grade school, high school was his no brainer choice. Elementary school was, er, a bit lacking in what was looking for. It’s not as though he felt like he was above it, oh heavens no. It was just a little <em>too</em> simple for what he was looking for. It made more sense for him to take a job like that fresh out of the higher education system, young and desperate for any sort of job to pay off the debt he accumulated.</p><p>However, that’s not to say he didn’t enjoy his time working there. He holds fond memories of the time he spent teaching younger kids, guiding them as they began to properly explore the world of music. Siebren quite enjoyed their little innocent and ever curious minds.</p><p>Little kids were certainly much easier to deal with compared to the hormonal and emotional mess that were pre-teens in middle school. Siebren practically shuddered at the thought of having to deal with them again. His blood was a bit too old to be dealing with the rapidly developing minds and their constant need to rebel against their superiors. Middle schoolers were just downright vicious and nasty to deal with, even worse on a bad day or mood.</p><p>He was surprised that he somehow managed to last 4 years in such a miserable environment.</p><p>High school just made the most sense in retrospective. Not only were its inhabitants a bit more levelheaded in their emotions to some extent, but they were also a little bit more committed to the cause of music if they kept it up that far. He enjoyed the prospect of possibly showing them that there was career to made out of music, that they could take it to the next level. It’s a pivotal time in their period of growing up and Siebren was more than up to the challenge.</p><p>Or, maybe he was before three years ago…</p><p>He lets go a deep sigh before admitting, “I still can’t help but feel like I might be rusty, almost too rusty even. I mean, will I even still be able to properly teach like I did before? Manage behavior and everything of the sorts? It still has me worried.”</p><p>“It’s only natural but I’m sure you’ll have nothing to worry about in due time. It’s not like you lose your ability to teach and realize that there’s plenty of room to shake out the rust.” She says, giving his arm another comforting squeeze. “But I’m more than certain that your students will be on their best behavior. Especially while you have all three children of the three principals in your class.” She casually mentioned.</p><p>“Oh? Is that truly so?” Siebren asked, raising a curious brow with a smile.</p><p>“Mmhmm. That’s right.” Dr. Amari hummed. “My daughter, Fareeha, plays the trumpet. If I remember correctly, Dr. Morisson’s adopted daughter, Hana, plays the flute while Dr. Reyes’ biological daughter, Olivia, plays the saxophone.”</p><p>“Well isn’t that a neat little coincidence,” He casually laughed to himself. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think they’re there to spy on me and report back to you all!”</p><p>Dr. Amari couldn’t help but laugh along with him. “Oh, heavens no, Dr. de Kuiper! This isn’t some paramilitary organization or anything like that!”</p><p>“Well, nevertheless, I’m quite excited to have them in my class this year.”</p><p>“As I’m sure they’ll be quite excited too. If not, more than you.”</p><p>“Are they that passionate about musical arts?” He hopefully asked.</p><p>“More so…how would I put this? Excited for a…fresh, new perspective? How about that?” Dr. Amari sheepishly admitted.</p><p>“Oh, that’s quite understandable.” Siebren nodded. “Was there some sort of…problem with the previous instructor?”</p><p>“Well, yes and no.” She regarded, her tone suddenly drifting slightly towards a bit upset. “We certainly didn’t have any problems with her, neither did the students. It’s just, unfortunately, she fell extremely ill out of nowhere right as spring started blossoming.”</p><p>“Oh dear. I’m so terribly sorry to hear that. Is she…?”</p><p>“Ok? Oh, yes. Considerably so. But as a result, she unfortunately had to step away from teaching. I do my best to make sure to check up on her every now and again.”</p><p>“Well, that’s a relief to hear. But what happened to the band?” He asked, concerned of their fate. “Don’t tell me they went without an instructor for the rest of year?”</p><p>He felt his shoulders lose that sudden tension as Dr. Amari shook her head. “No, thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Our orchestra director, Dr. O'Deorain, stepped in as interim band director while we did our best to find a proper replacement. However, we had no such luck and she ended up the instructor for the rest of the semester.”</p><p>“Thank goodness for her then. I can’t imagine what that all must’ve been like, teacher and students alike.”</p><p>“Yes, there was so much sudden change all around for everyone. But we did our best to make the most out of our circumstances. We’re just happy and forever thankful someone like you came along, Dr. de Kuiper.”</p><p>“Oh, come now.” Siebren nervously laughed. “I’m sure there were plenty of other applicants who could’ve easily taken my spot.”</p><p>“That’s…where you’d be wrong, I’m afraid.” Dr. Amari truthfully admitted.</p><p>He shot her a confused look in return, seeking clarification with, “What…do you mean?”</p><p>“What I mean to say is, you were the only person who applied for the position. To tell you the truth, up until our interview a couple weeks ago, I really thought Dr. O’Deorain would have to take over as our permanent band director.”</p><p>“Oh, wow. That certainly is…something, although I’m not quite sure what.”</p><p>“Yes, I know.” Dr Amari nodded. “And to get someone of your experience just like that, why, I’d say that’s nothing short of some sort of miracle or blessing.”</p><p>Well if <em>that </em>wasn’t the sign he was looking for then he didn’t know what else it could possibly be. Now that he remembers it, he never actually did see anyone else waiting alongside him at his interview.</p><p>Just as Dr. Amari finished her sentence, the two of them turned left down into the musical arts department corridor as their pace began to slow to crawl to take in the sights.</p><p>“Welcome to the music arts department, Dr. de Kuiper.” She happily introduced.</p><p>Already, he was impressed as a wall of cages coming in a variety of sizes meant for various sizes of musical instruments lined the left side of the wall. The rest of the immediate area space was taken up by the varying-in-size practice rooms that accommodated space ranging from a single person to an entire section of an ensemble, if need be.</p><p>Further beyond the immediate space saw the various offices on either side of the hallway but just before that was an opening to another small hallway on the right hand side. This small hallway lead to the main entrances of both the orchestra and band room respectively. The placement of the musical arts department also couldn’t be any better, seeing as though it was located just off on the right side of the auditorium, which they passed coming down the west hallway before arriving here. It allowed for much easier transportation of need instruments, chairs and stands to the stage and back.</p><p>Siebren was quite surprised that a seemingly mild-mannered school actually had the facilities that benefited their musically inclined students.</p><p>“Our school was built from the ground up a few years ago.” Dr. Amari commented with a smile. “Although the budget was centered around STEM, the county did think it was a good idea in investing in the arts departments.”</p><p>“I’m glad they did. This is really quite amazing, honestly.” Siebren admitted as he couldn’t help himself from smiling.</p><p>There was something distracting him a bit from taking it all in, however, more specifically a peculiar sound. Even though the sound was faint, Siebren’s precise ears were able to pick up a melody of rising and falling major scales played on, what he could correctly assume was, a violin. To be honest, it felt a bit out of place, especially to hear it this early in the morning on the first day of school no less. The current scale being played was a G major scale with such grace and poise.</p><p>Who on earth could be playing so lovely like that?</p><p>Almost as if Dr. Amari could read his curious mind, she was quick to explain its origin with, “That must be Dr. O’Deorain with her private lesson…”</p><p>“A private lesson?” Siebren asked, a confused look clear as the very morning on his face. “Right now? This early in the morning? On the first day of school?”</p><p>Dr. Amari merely shook her head, adding with a small sigh, “Dr. O’Deorain, she can be a bit…<em>much</em> when it comes to her and her style of teaching. She had…troubles with the band when she took over as interim band director but we’re past that now. I can tell that she ultimately means well in the grand scheme of things, even if it’s lost in translation with a majority of the students.”</p><p>“I see…”</p><p>Siebren wasn’t really sure what to do with that information if he was being quite honest. However, it wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with his fair share of similar sounding instructors throughout his years. He understood where drive to push others to their potential came from. Hell, even he was like that every now and again. But what he eventually learned that was most important when it came to that style of teaching was the when and where to push, as well as knowing when to back off. It’s quite the balancing act for a lot of instructors and it certainly wasn’t easy.</p><p>It remains to be seen how Dr. O’Deorain manages the precarious act, however. Siebren didn’t want to just jump into conclusions before meeting and interacting the woman herself.</p><p>“I think we should do introductions sooner rather than later. I’m sure Dr. O’Deorain will be somewhat pleased to know that she can focus orchestra this year.” Dr. Amari said, already making her way towards the office as Siebren nervously followed along.</p><p>Upon arriving to the office door of the orchestra director, Dr. Amari gave two sharp and accentuated knocks against the wooden surface. Almost instantly did the violin from behind the door cease its comfortable noise as the two could hear mumbling voices. It didn’t take long for Dr. O’Deorain to answer the door as it practically swung open, catching poor Siebren off guard as he jumped in place with how sudden and fast it was.</p><p>“<em>For what reason are you interr</em>-oh. Dr. Amari. Good morning.” She dryly regarded, clearing the venom from her throat and facial features upon realizing who she was talking to.</p><p>“Good morning to you too, Dr. O’Deorain.” Dr. Amari simply smiled back before her attention fell on the other person in the room as she gave an even brighter smile. “And good morning to you too, Angela. How are you doing this fine morning?”</p><p>The young blonde practically lit up in her chair as she greeted her girlfriend’s mother with an equal amount of energy. “Oh! Good morning, Dr. Amari! I’m doing just fine, thank you for asking! How are you?” </p><p>“That’s great to hear. I’m doing quite fine as well this morning.”</p><p>“Is Fareeha…”</p><p>“Yes, she’s here.” Dr. Amari warmly smiled back with a chuckle, knowing what Angela was going to ask before she said it. “She’s waiting in town hall for you. And just as a heads up, she’s practically been talking about you <em>all </em>morning.”</p><p>Well, Angela was practically glowing red in response to that lovely information. Seems Fareeha was thinking about her just about as much as she was thinking of her. Unfortunately, she barely had the time to take it all in as Dr. O’Deorain cleared her throat. This friendly banter was taking up for too much of her precious time and she was determined to reclaim it back whichever way she could.</p><p>“Is there something that you required of me, Dr. Amari?” She asked, trying and failing at an unannoyed tone of voice. “Because if not, I would <em>really</em> like to get back to our <em>private </em>lesson that you just so happened to interrupt.”</p><p>“Of course, Dr. O’Deorain. I know how important that is to you and I’ll let you get back to that in a minute. But first, I just wanted to get a chance to introduce our new band director, Dr. Siebren de Kuiper.”</p><p>Dr. O’Deorain’s unimpressed gaze rose up to a suddenly self-conscious Siebren who stepped into view from behind Dr. Amari, offering a simple but nervous wave in return.</p><p>“Um,” He stammered, already feeling her critical heterochromatic eyes judge him far more than the teenagers from earlier did. And for some reason,<em> that meant a lot more</em>. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, but this woman had managed to harness some sort of powerful energy within her. In, what he hoped was an appropriate gesture for the situation, Siebren extended his slightly trembling hand out for a shake before saying, “P-Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dr. O’Deorain?”</p><p>It took an agonizingly long second, but she eventually took his hand in hers, confidently shaking it before returning with an even drier, “Charmed, I’m sure. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll save lengthy introductions for later. I must return my attention to this private lesson. So, good day to you both.” </p><p>In a move that took almost everyone by surprise, just before Dr. O’Deorain could lightly slam the door on their faces, Siebren quickly halted the process with a sudden and loud, “W-Wait!”  </p><p>All three pairs of eyes in attendance fell on him and his now embarrassed form, surprised a such an action from the gentle giant. Well, Dr. O’Deorain was less surprised and more annoyed than ever but that’s besides the point.</p><p>“I…uh, just wanted to quickly say that, those were some lovely scales, Ms. Angela. Very few people your age can go through them as effortlessly as you were. I can see that you’re quite talented. Well done! Keep up the great work!” Siebren quickly complimented under the glare of the red head director.</p><p>A compliment was certainly the last thing Angela had expected today and Dr. de Kuiper’s caught her completely off guard. Thankfully, Dr. O’Deorain didn’t slam the door right then and there as she was allowed to accept the warm praise.</p><p>“O-Oh! Um, t-thank you, Dr. de Kuiper!” She waved back, not really knowing what else to say.</p><p>And on that lovely note, Dr. O’Deorain simply gave Siebren…some sort of semi annoyed look before lightly closing the door in between the exchange of waves. An amused Dr. Amari playfully spoke up with, “I think she likes you.”</p><p>Siebren released a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he replied, “Oh dear, I <em>hope </em>so.”</p><p>“I’m sure you two will get along just fine.” She laughed. “But for now, let me show you to your office and the band room so we can end our little tour.”</p><p>He nodded in agreement before following her once more.</p><p>Meanwhile, in the office of Dr. O’Deorain, Angela suddenly found it hard to focus on the lesson at hand. Her mind was still on the gentle Dr. de Kuiper and his lovely compliment. Even though they had only met each other through the small interaction, Angela already thought positive of him. Maybe a bit more than Dr. O’Deorain. She wasn’t entirely sure yet.</p><p>One thing was clear in her mind, however, and its that she couldn’t wait to tell her girlfriend and all her friends about him.  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I suppose it's time to get some of the students' reaction as well as properly introduce them? There's no way Angela isn't going to not talk about this. We'll be spending some more time with her down the line.</p><p>Also the Winter Wonderland event started and did you all see that Ice Queen Moira skin?  We have been BLESSED. It's going to be a merry fucking Christmas alright. </p><p>Until next time and take care. </p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Here For Nothing Pt. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Angela's friend group wants to know all about this new band director. </p><p>An anxious freshman Mei just wants to find a place to sit during lunch.</p><p>Ashe is like, one more f-bomb away from getting everyone kicked out of McDonalds. </p><p>Jamie is just happy he doesn't have to deal with a certain orchestra director ever again. </p><p>Satya enjoys a peaceful lunch before class. At least until Dr. Reyes makes a surprise appearance.</p><p>And finally, poor Siebren just wants to log into the school's network.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ai ya. It took way longer than I would've liked to update this fic. But there was a reason for that. </p><p>I was, uh, admitted hospital literally two days after posting the last update. I started experiencing an excruciating pain completely out of nowhere in my gut. It's not the worst pain I've felt (that honor goes to kidney stones) but it was enough to send me to the floor, yelling out and everything. After a bunch of tests, turns out I had a rather serious bacterial infection that actually could've fucked me up more than it did. Luckily, I was treated and everything and released Christmas Eve evening. Thank you all for your kind words and understanding.</p><p>I feel much better now after resting up into the New Year. I also have things in place to prevent something like this from ever happening again. So, no worries. </p><p>Anyway, consider this chapter a late Christmas gift cause it's a long boi with a whole bunch of stuff. I hope you enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first day of school was well underway marking the official end of summer vacation. Hoards of students soon flood throughout the building. Of course, you had the lost, confused and intimidated freshmen who were just trying to find their way to their first period classroom. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you had the seniors who not only knew exactly where they were going, but simply didn’t give too many fucks as it was their last year and they were ready to get out of this hellhole.</p><p>Things were moving quickly as the first day was mainly just a get-to-know-you and a rundown of the basics for classes. Everything was constantly moving as teachers focused mainly on first day matters like syllabi and the dreaded back to school icebreakers. It was pretty easy to get overwhelmed with it all as it barely gave you any time to think, let alone catching up with friends you haven’t seen in a while.</p><p>But that’s what lunch period came in. If you were lucky, all your friends would have some same lunch period seeing as though it was staggered based on the complicated system of whatever classes you were taking. If not, well then that sucks to be you because you would seldom see any of your friends.  Since band and orchestra were one of the last classes in the day, their respective students usually had their lunch period right before said class.</p><p>During today’s lunch period, Angela was currently sitting at a table of close friends underneath one of the flights of stairs in town hall. It was their sort of go to table for lunch, sort of in the middle of everything and not too far from the musical department. But that’s not half as interesting as all that Angela knew about this new band director, which in reality, wasn’t much but still just as exciting, nonetheless.</p><p>She had passed the information around mainly to the band students, either through classes or passing them in the hallway. But that’s thing. With the constantly moving parts of the school, she was barely able to give out most of what she knew. So come lunch period, there were some students who definitely wanted to know what was up. Especially her immediate friend group.</p><p>“So, level with me here.” Emily asked, leaning forward with interlocked fingers that hid her mouth, heavily invested in the current information she was hearing. “How tall are we talking here, exactly?”</p><p>Angela quickly swallowed whatever food was left in her mouth before answering with, “At least a foot or two taller than Dr. O’Deorain.”</p><p>Everyone at their small little table were quite surprised to say the least. At first, they had only expected maybe a few more inches in height, but an entire one to maybe even two feet taller? In comparison to the orchestra director and her already foreboding height, could such a mountain of man exist?</p><p>“But, isn’t Dr. O’Deorain like, six feet tall or something?” Genji asked, dumbfounded and still trying to properly gauge the height of the person they were currently discussing.</p><p>“Six foot four the last time I checked.” Emily quickly fact checked him. “At least, that’s what she told me.”</p><p>“Wow, I can’t believe there’s someone actually taller than Dr. O’Deorain.” Lena spoke up from the seat next to Emily. “Dr. O’Deorain is like the tallest person I know! That’s kinda crazy that there’s someone even taller than her!”</p><p>“Mm, I agree.” Amélie hummed from the seat on the other side of Emily. “But I feel like we would’ve seen such a man by now, no? It’s unlikely that we would miss him amongst everyone here.”</p><p>“Well, it’s not like we see Dr. O’Deorain constantly.” Fareeha spoke up from her girlfriend’s side. “She’s almost always holed up in her office or the orchestra room. So, I’d guess that it’s probably the same for this new director. Besides, if he’s new to the school, he probably has a bunch of things to do and set up.”</p><p>“That is pretty true. If that’s the case, then I’m sure he’s got his hands full at the moment.” Emily said, nodding along with the rest of the table. “So, your mom never told you about hiring a new director?”</p><p>Fareeha shook her head, explaining, “No, I usually go visit dad around early August. It’s around the time when she has to get back into a school mindset and things get a bit hectic for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just forgot to mention it.”</p><p>“Huh, I wonder why they never told my aunt about him until today. Anyway, how did she react to the news, Angela?”</p><p>“Well, Dr. Amari kind of introduced him at a bad time.” She recalled, trying to contain a laugh. “It was in the middle of our private lesson and keep in mind, I was already running late to it. So, we lost enough time as it was. Let’s just say, she wasn’t all too pleased with the interruption. I’d say she was just about ready to tear off someone’s head when she opened the door.”</p><p>“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Emily sheepishly smiled. “She’s the worst when it comes to first impressions.”</p><p>“You can say that again. I’ve never seen someone so tall be <em>that </em>intimidated by someone smaller than him! Poor Dr. de Kuiper, he just caught her at the wrong time.”</p><p>“Doctor who now?” Lena asked with a confused look on her face.</p><p>“Oh, that’s right! I never did give his name out, did I?” Angela realized. “Dr. Amari introduced him as Dr. Siebren de Kuiper, if I remember correctly.”</p><p>“God, we already have enough doctors as it is in this school. I swear, we’re like a magnet for them or something.” Genji said, crossing his arms.</p><p>“Dr. Amari…Dr. Morisson…Dr. Reyes…Dr. O’Deorain…” Lena listed of the top of her head. “And now this guy…”</p><p>“So, was that it?” Amélie asked. “Was that all that happened?”</p><p>“No, actually. I haven’t even gotten to the most interesting part yet.”</p><p>“Well, tell us! What happened next?” Fareeha beamed. “No more interruptions. We swear!”</p><p>Angela couldn’t help but giggle at the visibly excitement around the table, especially with Fareeha, Genji and Lena. All of whom, were in band.</p><p>“Ok, ok. Well, just before Dr. O’Deorain could slam the door on them, he actually stopped her!”</p><p>There was collective gasp of disbelief and amazement amongst the group. Who would do such a thing? Wasting more of Dr. O’Deorain’s time with such an interruption. It was unheard of!</p><p>The group couldn’t even hold back their own interruptions to Angela’s tale.</p><p>“No way…” Genji gawked, shocked for the umpteenth time today.</p><p>“Just like that?” Emily questioned.</p><p>“With no repercussions?” Fareeha added on.</p><p>“What did he do next? Why’d he stopped her?” Lena asked, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.</p><p>Angela waited for a quick second just so they could all calm down before she wrapped up her story.</p><p>“He actually stopped her just so he could personally compliment me on my musical talent. Like, a genuine and thoughtful compliment. Can you believe that?”</p><p>“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a compliment come out of Dr. O’Deorain’s mouth…” Lena said, doing her best to think back on her memories with the red head.</p><p>“Not unless you’re real close to her like I am.” Emily mentioned. “But even then, they’re still <em>extremely </em>rare.”</p><p>“Still, that was…really nice of him.” Genji nodded his head. “Especially since this was your first encounter with him. He actually sounds pretty cool.”</p><p>“Yeah, he really sounds like a genuinely nice guy! And he’s gonna be our band director too? Like, I’m actually kind of excited for band class now!” Fareeha admitted.</p><p>“Yeah!” Lena exclaimed. “I can’t wait to meet him this afternoon!”</p><p>“I’m glad you all are looking forward to it!” Emily smiled at her easily excitable girlfriend. “You’ll have to let me and Amélie know everything after school.”</p><p>“Of course! You two’ll be the first to know!” She said, placing a small peck on Emily’s cheek.</p><p>“Don’t I get one too?” Amélie playfully asked, feigning jealously. Lena leaned over to repeat the action on her cheek as well. She certainly wasn’t going to forget about her other girlfriend in their little poly relationship.</p><p>Whelp, it sounds like all they’ll be talking about at lunch this week is everything surrounding this new band director and rightfully so. It was an exciting time ahead for everyone.</p><p>===</p><p>As an incoming freshman, the first of school could be quite intimidating, made even more daunting for an introvert like Mei-Ling Zhou who was just looking for a place to sit and eat her lunch. The cafeteria seemed out of the question as most of the tables were either completely or mostly full. Even if she wanted to sit down at one of the almost full tables, her social anxiety probably wouldn’t have allowed her to ask for permission at the table to sit down, let alone actually saying hi. So, she continued wandering in and around the town hall area with backpack, clarinet case and lunch bag in hand, anxiously looking around for a place to sit.</p><p>If only she had a friend group that she could sit with just like in middle school. When it came time for the end of her middle school career, Mei unfortunately learned that most of her friends wouldn’t be going to the same high school as her. While they would be going to one of the high schools in the northern district of their county, she would be attending Athena High School which was all the way in the southern district.</p><p>They all promised to stay in touch, which they did as they spent some of their summer vacation just hanging out together. But come time for the new school year to start, she was without them. It just kind of sucked, starting over from the beginning and trying to make all new friends. Stuff like that was never easy for her.</p><p>Wandering down the length of town hall, Mei looked out into the brightly lit courtyard full of a wide assortment of students sitting at picnic tables. Perhaps she should try her luck there? While she didn’t like the transitioning summer air very much, there were some shaded spots she could possibly take refuge in. Mei decided that it was the best course of action as she went through on of the doors leading to the area.</p><p>Upon getting a better look at the tables outside, it was no better than the cafeteria, seeing as though most of the tables were already preoccupied by different groups of people and their friends. Well, so much for that. If only she had her friends here, then she wouldn’t have to put up with the trouble of finding a table. Oh well, there had to be somewhere else in the school she could sit, even if it was a hallway or whatever.</p><p>Just as she was about to turn on her heels and head back in, someone from one of the tables was calling out in her direction.</p><p>“Hey! You!” An adolescent boy yelled out.</p><p>Mei nervously looked around her, trying to see who on Earth he was calling for. She was made all the more confused when he yelled out again with, “Yeah! You!”</p><p>He couldn’t seriously be talking about her, could he?</p><p>“Yeah, you! With the clarinet case! Come over here!”</p><p>Oh god, he <em>was </em>talking about her as she realized she was the only one in the immediate area carrying a clarinet case. If she wasn’t already worried enough with the young man with dreadlocks specifically calling her out, then it was the group of people at his table with all eyes on her. Also at the table sat a girl with a pink undercut who looked to be rather fit. Two other girls sat at the table, one with dark brown who sat in the lap of the other girl with a lighter shade of brown hair. All of them seemed to be watching her with some sort of interest.</p><p>What could they possibly want with her? Oh dear, she wasn’t prepared for this.</p><p>Seeing no other way out, Mei took cautious and anxious steps toward the table and its inhabitants, clutching tightly to the clarinet case in her hands. All sorts of thoughts were running through her head as she played scenario after scenario, each with differing outcomes. She held her breath as she reached the table, unsure what to do with everyone’s attention.</p><p>Thankfully, she didn’t have to speak first as the young man spoke up, asking, “That’s a clarinet case, right? You play clarinet?”</p><p>“Y-Yes?” She quietly answered, unsure if that was even the right answer to give.</p><p>He gave her a charismatic smile before declaring, “Awesome! You’re gonna fit right in with us!”</p><p>“H-Huh?”</p><p>The girl sitting in the lap of the other girl spoke up this time.</p><p>“You play the clarinet, so you’re in band, right?”</p><p>Can’t argue with that logic, duh. Mei nodded her head in agreement.</p><p>“So then, you’re just like us!” The pink haired girl added with a smile. “We’re also a part of the band!”</p><p>“Wait…really?”</p><p>“You know it! We are certified band geeks! Or band nerds, whichever you prefer.” The young man exclaimed. “But I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s start with the basics. What’s your name?”</p><p>“Oh…um…Mei-Ling Zhou. B-But everyone just calls me Mei.”</p><p>“Awesome, nice to meet you, Mei! The name is Lúcio and I’m all about that percussion, y’know what I mean?” He said before going clockwise around the table, introducing everybody else. “This lovely couple right here are Hana and Brigitte and they play flute and French horn respectively. And this absolute unit is Zarya. She plays trombone.”</p><p>Mei exchanged waves and smiles with everyone in the group as she felt some of the tension in her shoulders give way. It felt nice to find common interests among others, even if it was just band.</p><p>“So, you wanna sit with us?” Lúcio asked, offering to move his stuff out of the way. “Hana was just about to tell us something.”</p><p>She nodded slowly as Lúcio made some space for her at the table. Finally, a place to eat her lunch! She discarded her backpack and clarinet case to the ground. Mei began taking bites of her meal as all attention fell on Hana who apparently had something important to say.</p><p>“So, anyways, did you all hear the news?” She said, trying to contain her excitement. “We apparently have a new band director! Isn’t that awesome?”</p><p>Such a normal sounding sentence to Mei’s ears got quite the reaction from everyone at the table that wasn’t Hana. There was disbelief, excitement, surprise and even…hope? She wasn’t sure where exactly that was coming from but she was about to find out.</p><p>“Don’t do that.” Lúcio warned, taking a sip of his drink. “Don’t give me that kind of hope, Hana. I swear to god, if you’re just messing with us…”</p><p>“No, I’m serious! Angela saw him this morning during her private lesson.”</p><p>“Jeez, a private lesson on the first day of school? Like, who even does that?” Brigitte said with a disgusted look on her face.</p><p>“I think you just answered your own question.” Zarya remarked. “The only answer being Dr. O’Deorain.”</p><p>“Yeah, this only further confirms it. She’s about as evil as they come.” Lúcio says matter-of-factly.</p><p>Mei didn’t know who this Dr. O’Deorain was, but with the way they were describing her, she was probably better off not knowing. But curiosity was getting the better of her…</p><p>In between the agreements and nodding of heads, a timid Mei was somehow able to break through their banter as she asked, “Is…is Dr. O’Deorain really as bad as you all say?”   </p><p>“Uh-huh,” Hana vehemently nodded, crossing her arms. “She’s just plain mean.”</p><p>“Without a doubt.” Brigitte nodded as well. “She criticizes every little thing you do.”</p><p>“Rotten to the core.” Zarya added. “There’s no impressing her.”</p><p>“Most definitely.” Lúcio agreed with his peers “In fact, you should consider yourself <em>extremely </em>lucky that we apparently have a new band director. Actually having a class with Dr. O’Deorain is <em>hell</em>.” </p><p>“O-Oh, really?”</p><p>With their current sophomore status, they had all experienced a miserable time up until the end of the year with Dr. O’Deorain taking over as their band director during their own freshmen year. Each of them could personally recall an unpleasant and stand out moment with the good Doctor of Musical Arts and her push for excellence. To be fair, their former band director <em>did </em>just leave abruptly and they never got the time to actually deal and talk about it.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s actually great that you’re a clarinet player.” Brigitte explained. “Our last clarinetist actually quit because they couldn’t handle her.”</p><p>Well, that certainly wasn’t what Mei wanted to hear as an increasingly worried look came across her face. Brigitte immediately regret bringing up the fact as she tried to find better words with both her girlfriend and Zarya shooting her a, “Why would you say that?” look. Thankfully, Lúcio, and his endless amount of charisma, was able to dispel the look on Mei’s face as he pointed out, “<em>But</em>, that doesn’t really matter anymore because, like Hana said, we have a new band director!”</p><p>“Yeah!” Hana quickly quipped up. “Angela told me that this new director is really nice! He actually complimented her!”</p><p>“Say <em>whaaaaaat</em>?” He drew out, giving her an even more confused look in return as Zarya and Brigitte followed suit.</p><p>“A compliment?” Brigitte asked in disbelief. “Those exist?”</p><p>“He’s already like, ten times nicer than Dr. O’Deorain. I don’t think <em>anybody </em>in the band ever got a compliment, of all things, from her!” Zarya managed to say through the shock.</p><p>“Well,” Lucio said with an invigorated smile towards. “It already sounds like were in better hands! So, like I said, there shouldn’t be any problems with this new director!”</p><p>It was nice to hear as Mei’s facial features softened up a bit. But she still didn’t look very convinced just yet. </p><p>“And don’t worry!” Brigitte grinned. “If any problems do happen, which they won’t, we got your back and will always protect you!”</p><p>“Exactly!” Hana agreed with a small peck on her girlfriend’s cheek. “You’re part of our little band family now!”</p><p>Zarya, in her own excitement, wrapped an arm around Mei before pulling the smaller flustered girl closer into a half bear hug.</p><p>“And family always looks out for each other!”</p><p>Lúcio couldn’t help but laugh out of enthusiasm. “You know, I got a good feeling about this year’s band class! I can just feel it in my bones!”</p><p>Lúcio’s contagious laughter got everyone at the table to laugh along with him. Even Mei who stifled her own small giggle amongst them. It’s funny. Earlier in the morning, her anxieties were all over the place with the promotion to high school and all that it would bring. But, having made a couple of friends and entering…some sort of band family cult, she was starting to forget about some of them.</p><p>Perhaps Lúcio was right in having a good feeling about the upcoming year. She couldn’t deny the inviting and pleasant aura around the table. Maybe high school wouldn’t be so bad with some new friends by her side.</p><p>Never mind the fact that they were getting excited over a simple compliment of all things. But it apparently went a long way, much further than Siebren could’ve anticipated.</p><p>===</p><p>“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? That’s bullshit!” Ashe exclaimed, slumping back in her seat as she crossed her arms, all while wearing a miserable pout on her face.</p><p>“Whoa, watch your fuckin’ language!” Jesse quickly shot back. “What has you all riled up all of a sudden?”</p><p>“Oh gee, I don’t know. I <em>just</em> don’t know.” She growled, feigning stupid as she tapped a finger against her jawbone. “Oh wait! Maybe it’s because you guys got a new frickin’ band director and we’re still stuck with the bitch that is the ‘Ice Queen’!”</p><p>“Hey, you know what they say, sucks to suck.” Olivia snickered as she scrolled through her phone.</p><p>“Oh, shut the fuck up!” Ashe yelled just a bit too loud for everyone in the immediate area to hear.</p><p>“And what are you gonna fucking do about it, huh?” Olivia spat back, sticking out her tongue just to rub the salt in the wound.</p><p>“Nothing! She’s not going to do anything! What everyone needs to do is just <em>keep it down</em>!” Baptiste shushed them, being one of the only ones in the group who was able to notice the unpleased looks they were getting from staff and patrons of the restaurant alike. “I think we’re like…one more f-bomb away from getting kicked out of here.”</p><p>“Yeah, no, like seriously. I agree.” Hanzo calmly spoke up, looking over his shoulder to see one of the managers just looking for a reason to kick them out. “At the very least, calm down with the yelling.”</p><p>The group was currently sitting in a booth at a local McDonalds off campus as they enjoyed their dollar menu lunch. With the restaurant only being a ten-minute walk away from school, it sure as hell beat the subpar cafeteria food. Although technically, they weren’t even supposed to be here seeing as though only seniors were allowed off campus for lunch. The only person in their group that was even remotely close to a senior was Hanzo and his junior status with the rest of them being mere sophomores.</p><p>Either way, there would certainly be severe consequences if they were ever caught by the school’s security. Keyword being “if” as they had been going off campus constantly for lunch over the past two years and surprisingly still hadn’t been caught in the act yet. You know, save for a few close calls here and there. Sort of like this situation, actually.</p><p>Prior to Ashe’s outburst, Jesse was simply letting the group know about the new band director that everyone else was talking about. The word of Dr. de Kuiper’s arrival had spread like a wildfire between the band and orchestra students, with Angela being the one to set it all off. Jesse just thought it would make for good conversation, not open up the gates of hell.</p><p>“Fine.” Ashe agreed, starting to simmer down as she stuffed her mouth full of fries. “Where did you even hear about this new band director anyway?”</p><p>“From Angela. We have chemistry together first period and she was tellin’ me a bit about em’.”</p><p>“Oh, the ‘Ice Queen’s’ ‘bottom bitch’ told you? I should’ve known…” She growled, her brow furrowing in response.</p><p>Almost immediately as those words left her mouth, it was met with an understandably negative response, mainly in defense of Angela.</p><p>“Whoa, hey! That’s not cool.” Baptiste called out. “What’s your problem with her?”</p><p>“Yeah, there’s no need fer name callin’.” Jesse added on. “What’d she ever do to you? Piss in yer cheerios?”</p><p>“What? That’s what she is, isn’t she? Just some stuck up, little teacher’s pet!” She exclaimed, doing her best to keep her voice down as she doubled down on her words. “She just thinks she’s hot shit just because she’s the <em>principal violinist </em>or whatever.”</p><p>“So? There’s nothing wrong with working hard. If anyone deserves that position, she does.”</p><p>“Yeah, it almost sounds like yer jealous o’ her.”</p><p>Ashe pinched the bridge of her nose, cursing herself for her poor choice of words when talking about Angela. She didn’t really mean it as she just caught in the heat of the moment. Her anger was more towards Dr. O’Deorain and the fact that she would have to spend another year with that awful woman. She wasn’t entirely sure if she would make it past the first week, let alone an entire year</p><p>Ashe would quit orchestra if she could, but her parents insisted that it “looked good on college applications”. It’s not like she really cared, seeing as though it was 2 years before she could actually start applying. The future wasn’t of any concern to her as she was just focused with living in the now. Although, right now involved her getting grilled for her stupid mouth saying stupid things.</p><p>If she was being honest, Ashe didn’t really have any quarrel with Angela. <em>Nobody </em>had any quarrel with her. She was practically an angel, for lack of better words. Unfortunately, the blonde just sort of got caught in the crossfire of her venting out her anger. She can lose sight of things whenever she gets upset, tearing down anything in her path.</p><p>But at this point, Ashe just really wanted this conversation to end by any means necessary. If it meant apologizing in her own little way, then so be it.</p><p>“Alright, alright, fine. I take back what I said about her, jeez. Can we just stop talking about it?” She groaned, rest her head on her crossed arms as she slumped down on the table. “Also, what do you mean? What reason would I even have for being jealous of her?”</p><p>“That’s true. I can’t really see any reason as to why.” Hanzo said. “It’s not like you actually practice or even work hard, anyway. Plus, you’re nowhere near as musically skilled as her. Or even as talented as her. I suppose there’s also the elephant in the room of you not being as nice as her as well.”</p><p>“God, if you weren’t Jesse’s boyfriend, I would kick your fucking ass for saying that…”</p><p>“I’m fully aware of my “diplomatic immunity”.” He said, wrapping an arm over said boyfriend’s shoulders to pull him closer.</p><p>“Besides, I don’t <em>need </em>to practice anyway.” She said. “I haven’t practiced a single day in my life and I’m doing just fine.”</p><p>“See? That’s what I’ve <em>been </em>saying.” Olivia agreed, holding up her hand for a hi-five. “Nobody in band practices anything. It’s all just busy work, anyway. But Ashe gets it, she understands.”</p><p>Baptiste simply sighed, watching as the two girls slapped each other’s hands. “And you guys wonder why your district assessment marks were so low last year…”</p><p>“Ok, well, I may or may not have contributed to <em>some</em> of that.” Jesse defended.</p><p>“Oh God, I remember that!” Olivia laughed, recalling ill-fated day. “We had just come back to our rehearsal room after our shitty performance and Lucio was all like, “I think that went pretty well, all things considered.”, or something like that. And this idiot, right in front of ‘Ice Queen’ says, “Yeah it was, considering the fact I played everything from memory since I forgot my folder!”! I swear I’ve never seen her <em>so </em>pissed off before! If legally allowed, she would’ve murdered you in broad daylight!”</p><p>“It was an…honest mistake. Really.” He said as everyone at the table broke out into some form of laughter. It was fairly easy to make fun of Jesse simply because he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the tool shed. He was the butt of most jokes but never took it too seriously. It was all in good fun on his part. “Look…I’m just happy that we got this new director. I could really do without Dr. O’Deorain giving me a constant stink eye all throughout class.”</p><p>Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “You and me both. Look, I don’t care who this new director is. The only thing that matters is that we don’t have to deal with her ever again and that’s good enough for me.”</p><p>“Easy for you two to say…” Ashe grumbled under her breath.</p><p>“Yeah, well, you’ll have to let us know how it all goe-“ Baptiste began only to quickly cut himself off as he looked at the time on his phone. “Oh, crap! We need to leave like right now! Class is starting in like, eight minutes!</p><p>Panic began to seep through the group as they rushed to get their stuff together, taking any food they hadn’t eaten yet to go or discarding it in the trash. Somehow, they had just lost track of time in between everything. It certainly wasn’t going to be any fun running back to school to be on time for class. Hanzo, Baptiste and Ashe knew better than to be late for Dr. O’Deorain’s class, especially on the first day, no less.</p><p>Jesse and Olivia on the other hand had no idea as to what to expect from their new band director. Although, he certainly couldn’t be as worse as the aforementioned ‘Ice Queen’. Still though, they weren’t going to test their luck, just in case.</p><p>===</p><p>Somewhere, roaming the random halls and corriders in an effort to pass the time, a certain someone received a most exciting text.</p><p>“Welly well well, whaddya know?” Jamie grinned with a certain joy upon reading the text message on phone. “I can’t believe it! They’ve actually gone and done it! Ha! Yes!”</p><p>Mako gave him confused but curious look as Jamie obliged in actually showing his best friend the good news. On screen, he read a message sent by none other than Lúcio who had the common courtesy of letting his fellow percussion member know about the new band director. Mako casually nodded his head, not expecting such news to come on the first day of school. He certainly didn’t have any problem with Dr. O’Deorain, but it was a completely different story with Jamie.</p><p>Jamie despised Dr. O’Deorain, a feeling that was more than mutual between the two of them and it had been that way for some time now. They were constantly at each other’s throats a little bit after she took over as interim band director. Back then, at least once or twice a week, one would usually manage in provoking the other in some way, shape or form. Almost always intentionally on Jamie’s part.</p><p>“Do you know what this means!?” He excitedly asked, grabbing on Mako’s shirt.</p><p>A strong but silent type, he simply shook his head in response.</p><p>“It means I don’t ever have to deal with that rotten <em>bitch </em>ever again! Woo-hoo! Oh, rejoice my friend! Everything’s finally going our way!”</p><p>Mako was indifferent, but completely understood why Jamie was so happy about the good news. If anything, he was just happy that his friend was happy. That’s all that really mattered him.</p><p>He wouldn’t say it out loud, but Jamie’s constant expressions of disdain towards the woman was starting to annoy him a bit. Hopefully, there will be better blood between him and this new director.</p><p>Hopefully.</p><p>===</p><p>Having finished her lunch only a few moments ago, Satya made sure to clean up the immediate desk space that she used for her lunch. She cleared the surface of any and all crumbs as she swept them into her cupped hand at the edge of the desk. Double checking to make sure the cleanliness was to her standard; she carefully brushed the crumbs off her hands and into the brown paper bag which was now full of her discarded plastic sandwich bags and different wrappers.</p><p>Satya didn’t want to discard her trash in the mini trash can that was conveniently placed right next to the desk, she thought it to be a bit rude for the person who truly occupied the desk. Instead, she opted to take it to the trash can across the room, just sitting next to the entrance of the orchestra room. Taking a small glob of hand sanitizer from the dispenser on a shelf on her way back, she began to spread and rub it into the skin of her hands before taking her seat behind the desk and right next to a certain Dr. O’Deorain. The orchestra director paid her no mind as her attention was more focused on the email she was currently writing up.</p><p>Don’t worry, Satya was here on her own free will. She’s a good student and her teacher never had any problems whenever it came to her.</p><p>There was still ten minutes left before her next class, which just so happened to be chamber orchestra. Seeing as though they were in the orchestra room, she didn’t have any reason to leave. Satya pulled out one of the current books she was reading from her backpack in order to occupy herself until the end of lunch period. The book was one from her favorite fantasy series that she found herself re-reading at least once every year. Returning to the bookmarked page she previously left off on, Satya dove back into the mystical world of dragons and demigods.   </p><p>Occasionally, she would peek up from the pages and catch a quick glimpse of whatever Dr. O’Deorain was typing away on her computer, her eyes never lingering for too long before returning to her reading. The sound of the click-clacking keystrokes didn’t bother her very much as she actually found it quite relaxing. Satya was content with her current circumstance and honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. There was certainly a good reason as to why she preferred eating lunch in the comfort of the quiet and tranquil orchestra room.</p><p>Simply put, Satya did not like being anywhere in or around the lunchroom. If it wasn’t the overly loud volume with too many voices talking all at once, then it was the tightly packed and often over-crowded space, filled with far too many students for her liking. The whole experience was just too overwhelming for her. She never did well in and around crowds as they were a source of great distress for her. Sometimes the noise they produced proved even worse as she was quite sensitive to it all.</p><p>Satya did her best to avoid situations that would be too much for her sensory system to handle.  </p><p>In order to mitigate the possible sensory overload during her freshmen year, she would often seek solace in an empty stairwell somewhere on the other side of the school so that she could eat her lunch in peace. Anything was better than the aforementioned space with too many people for her to deal with. Satya probably went a few weeks like that until her orchestra teacher unexpectedly ran into her during a lunch period.</p><p>Dr. O’Deorain was initially perplexed at first, curious and confused as to why one of her students was just hanging out alone in an empty stairwell. Although, she was quick in understanding pretty much everything as Satya simply explained her troubles. In a grateful gesture, something deemed unfeasible by many students who knew the red-head, Dr. O’Deorain offered her an upgraded accommodation in the form of using the orchestra room to eat her lunch.</p><p>Although a bit hesitant at first, Satya ultimately accepted her teacher’s generous offer and hasn’t looked backed. It felt nice to have someone else in her life who, at the very least, was willing to listen and help her out. Plus, that wasn’t the only time Dr. O’Deorain offered her a form of accommodation. Soon after, should Satya feel too overwhelmed during class or just needed a quiet place to be for a second, she was allowed to go directly to Dr. O’Deorain in her office or orchestra to just calm down and recharge.</p><p>It was immensely helpful at times and it came as no surprise that Satya held a great amount of respect and appreciation for her orchestra director doing so much for her. She never understood why other students held such disdain for the woman. Well, sometimes it was hard for her to understand how other people work. Human beings are such simple yet complicated creatures.</p><p>Either way, she was just thankful that Dr. O’Deorain understood a bit of how she worked.</p><p>The two of them were allowed to peacefully exist for a few minutes in the space. That is, until there were two knocks at the double door entrance to the room. Both looked up from what they were doing as a familiar voice followed soon after.</p><p>“Knock-knock, how’s my favorite orchestra director?” Dr. Reyes asked as he stepped into the space wearing one of his patented smiles.</p><p>“Oh, Gabriel.” Moira regarded; thankful it was just him among the endless possibilities of guests today. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”</p><p>“I’m just making rounds, y’know? Checking up on everybody, making sure the place hasn’t been reduced to a pile of ashes yet. The works.”</p><p>“Give it some time, I’m more than positive that the students are capable of doing so.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’d bet you’d like to see that, wouldn’t you? Speaking of students, good afternoon Satya.”</p><p>Satya simply regarded him with a small wave and neutral face before returning to her reading. Although, it would be kind of hard to focus with a conversation going on, but it didn’t bother her too much. Like always, Dr. Reyes’ was really only here for Moira. He didn’t have a nickname for the two of them, coming at the request of both Satya and Moira. He was more than understanding in abiding by those rules, just using their regular names instead.</p><p>“So,” He grinned, ear to ear as he leaned up against the whiteboard in front of the desk. “Did you get a chance to meet ‘Maestro’ yet?”</p><p>“’Maestro’?” She questioned, never up to date on his many nicknames.</p><p>“The new band director? The big and tall Beethoven clone?”</p><p>“Oh.” Moira knew almost immediately who he was talking about as there was only one person who could ever fit that description. She recalled their very brief encounter earlier in the morning, mainly remembering him as an interruption to her private lesson with Angela. Well, it wasn’t so much his fault as it was Dr. Amari’s, so she couldn’t really blame him completely.</p><p>She didn’t really have that much time to get a first impression of him seeing as though there were more pressing matters to attend to in that moment. The only thing that stuck out to her was his compliment towards Angela just before she slammed the door on their faces. Indeed, Angela had come a long way since last year, especially when it came to her scales.</p><p>Moira should know, seeing as though she tasked the young blonde with memorizing and perfecting them to her own standards. She often stressed the importance of scales as they were an important base for developing musicality. Whether or not other students actually <em>listened </em>to what she was saying was up for debate as she can recall multiple individuals in band <em>and </em>orchestra who didn’t know all their major scales.</p><p>“You mean Dr. de Kuiper?”</p><p>“Yeah. That’s who I was talking about, duh.” He laughed to himself. “Good ol’ ‘Maestro’. Rolls off the tongue <em>real </em>nice.”</p><p>Moira sighed at his nicknaming antics. “Yes, we did meet. Only briefly, however. For some reason, Dr. Amari saw it fit to introduce him in the middle of my private lesson.”</p><p>“Probably just to mess with you.” He chuckled under his breath.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I said…probably just didn’t know!”</p><p>She, of course, gave him a look which seldom had any effect on him.</p><p>“In any case,” Dr. Reyes said, already making his way toward the double doors leading into the room. “I just wanted to check on you. And, uh, make sure you properly introduce yourself to ‘Maestro’ later, okay?”</p><p>“Why?” She questioned, just like she questions everything in that goes on in her life.</p><p>“Why?” Dr. Reyes quickly returned it back her way, holding back a snort of laughter. “I mean, aside from the fact that you two are going to work together in the same department? You could stand to make a new friend and ‘Maestro’ is a pretty friendly dude.”</p><p>“I doubt that. The making friends part, I mean. I’ve no opinion on him at the moment.”</p><p>“And you can get that opinion by…<em>wait for it</em>…introducing yourself and getting to know him!” He said, already out the door and on his way, but not before poking his head back in to get the last word. “Plus, since I’m technically one of your bosses, you kind of have to do what I say.”</p><p>Well, there was no arguing with that as Moira released yet another sigh in response. Even if she wanted to, she didn’t have the patience to see through his antics. </p><p>“Fine.” She reluctantly agreed. “I’ll do it after school lets out.”</p><p>“See? That’s the spirit!” Dr. Reyes exclaimed seemingly walking away until he poked his head back in <em>again</em> but this time pointing a single finger at her. “One last thing. Try to be nice to him, please. You know? If you actually know how to do that?”</p><p>She just shrugged in response, attention already back on the computer. “No promises.”</p><p>“If you were anyone else, I’d be worried.” He sighed with his own shrug and charming smile. “But from you? Eh, I’ll take it. Be sure to let me know how it goes.”</p><p>Thankfully, Dr. Reyes finally made his grand exit and out of Moira’s hair, and thank god. It’s not to say she disliked him or anything like that. He can just be bit of a goof sometimes, something she has a low tolerance in dealing with. But honestly, Gabriel was the only person she could probably call a friend in her life. Well, “friend” in its most loose term, seeing as though they barely interacted outside of school.</p><p>Despite that, he was constantly looking out for her and often came to her defense if the situation called for it. Especially when, more often than not, the odds were largely stacked against her. Moira was quite thankful to have him, honestly. Even if she didn’t outright say it, she assumed he probably already knew.</p><p>And perhaps Gabriel may be right, to an extent at least. If she and Dr. de Kuiper were going to work in the same department, the least she could do is attempt to collaborate with her new colleague. But, whether or not she would make a friend out it was another question entirely. Moira greatly preferred to keep to herself, with the two things of utmost importance in her life being work and her niece, Emily.</p><p>It’s not that she didn’t have time for friends in between the two, rather she didn’t see the need for them at this point in life. She had been doing just fine on her own for this long, so what would be the point? Besides, her head of stone seldom let anyone in anymore and there was good reason for that.</p><p>As for Satya, who just so happened to listen to the entire conversation, she really didn’t have much of an opinion when it came to a new band director. As an orchestra student, there really wasn’t any reason for her to interact with him in the first place. Although, she was a bit curious as to how he would stack up to Dr. O’Deorain…</p><p>===</p><p>“Oh, darn it all!” Siebren let out a huff of air in frustration as he stared at the computer monitor in disbelief. He sat back in his desk chair defeated once again, running a hand through his unkempt hair. “That should’ve been it. What am I doing wrong?”</p><p>For the past two hours, he had been plugging in all sorts of different combinations and variations of his supplied username and password to access the school’s online Canvas system. The poor man just wanted to access his gradebook and upload his lesson plans, not fight against technology! What made it even worse was the fact that he called the school’s IT person and they said that they would get back to him “soon”.</p><p>Seeing as though he placed that call two whole hours ago, he had the feeling that “soon” meant never at this point.</p><p>Other than this small annoyance, Siebren’s day so far had been pretty uneventful for what he initially expected. He would only be teaching one class and said class was one of the last classes of the day. Since he was full time, however, he was still required to be here all day. The amount of time to himself didn’t really bother him all that much. In fact, he greatly appreciated how much free time he apparently had in a day. It gave him a chance to breathe and properly take everything in.</p><p>Right after Dr. Amari showed him to his office and band room, she pretty much left him to his own devices but not before giving him a bit of encouragement and luck. He would certainly take anything he could get and greatly appreciated her very existence. After getting his bearings Siebren wanted to make things a bit more comfortable as he rearranged the chairs and music stands to his liking, making sure it would work with size and scope of his new symphonic band.</p><p>Actually, the overall size of the band and its composition definitely caught his eye seeing as though it was a much smaller pool than he initially expected. Twelve, count em’ twelve whole members in symphonic band. It could technically still count as a concert band despite its rather small size. A smaller band came with its own problems that he would have to consider down the line, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, hopefully.</p><p>If the band was this small, how large, or rather how small, was the orchestra in comparison? Perhaps he would ask Dr. O’Deorain later if he mustered up the courage to talk to her somehow. Siebren got the feeling his impression didn’t go over too well with her. Hopefully, he would get a chance to redeem himself somehow.</p><p>Maybe while he was at it, he could ask her for help with his current conundrum?</p><p>Siebren did think about it for a hot second but ultimately shook away the thought. Not only was he determined to try and figure it out on his own, but he didn’t want to be any more of a disturbance to the red head. If he had to take a guess, she probably valued her lunch time alone and away from students. Besides, he felt like he was so close to solving his problem.</p><p>Hand over his mouth as he stared intently at his keyboard, Siebren pondered how else to approach the problem at hand. Clearly, he was going to be at this for at least another hour, maybe even two.</p><p>“Maybe…I should leave another message for that IT worker again. Wait, no…I don’t want to be rude…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, time for class to start. Both band and orchestra. Hopefully Siebren won't be late?</p><p>Also, I'm like 80% sure that 6'4 is Moira's canonical height. If that's the case, she's one inch taller than me. Siebren? Fuck if I know lol</p><p>Until next time and take care.</p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Here For Nothing Pt. 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The band isn't really sure where their teacher might be after arriving to class and waiting for him. </p><p>Moira can't ignore her instincts telling her something is wrong and that someone is getting up to trouble. </p><p>Luckily, Siebren is found just in time to introduce himself to his new class.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello. We're back again. Thank you for your kind words last time as they always mean a lot to me. I've been doing a bit better with every week that goes by. Physically fine now. Mentally burnt out on school unfortunately. </p><p>But that's besides the point. </p><p>This was a fun chapter to write with all these interactions going on. I remember being quite excited to write it back when I was first planning everything out. So, I hope you enjoy it as well!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The afternoon bell blared throughout the halls and classrooms of Athena High, signaling the end of the last lunch period in the day. Almost as soon as the bell went off, said halls were already bustling full of students on their way to their sixth period class. Even though it was only about 1:20 p.m, according the ring of the bell, some students had their share of school for one day and were looking forward to going home as soon as possible.</p><p>Unfortunately for them, not only did they have an entire sixth period to get through but also an entire <em>seventh period </em>to trudge through as well.</p><p>Normally, due to block scheduling, students would have either their sixth or seventh period class to end a typical school day. However, with this being the first day back, the school opted in favor of a traditional scheduling that saw students go to each of their seven classes in a single day. While there was considerably less time spent in each classroom, it allowed students to get their syllabi and introductions for each of their classes before making the switch to block scheduling the following day.</p><p>Odd classes, consisting of first, third, fifth and seventh period, would be designated as Day A while even classes, consisting of second, third, fourth and sixth, were designated as Day B. Third period was the only consistent thing between the two days, acting as a “homeroom” period. Following that model, band and orchestra fell on ‘B’ days seeing as though the two classes just so happened to take up a sixth period slot.</p><p>Band and orchestra students alike soon descended upon the musical arts department with a wide variety of feelings brewing in their young minds. The news of a new band director had made its way throughout the reinvigorated and excited band members who looked forward to a new year that didn’t involve a certain orchestra director. In their minds, quite literally anyone else would be better than Dr. O’Deorain. She was certainly one of kind in the fact that no one could ever compare to her in terms of her overall unpleasantness.</p><p>At least they hoped that was case.</p><p>Upon arrival to the band room, there was no band director there to meet them just before the official start of the class. They didn’t think too much of it at first as they were more focused on catching up with each other for the first time in a while. It was mainly Lúcio, Hana, Brigitte and Zarya introducing a nervous and awkward Mei to the class. But after that, they all feel into conversation with the people around them as they all waited for class to start.</p><p>Once the final bell signaling sixth period rang, they were a bit surprised to see that still no teacher had walked through the doors to greet them. Strange, but they didn’t think too much about it, assuming that he would be here any second as they were still wrapped up in conversation. Soon after, five minutes went by and still no teacher. Then ten minutes. Then fifteen whole minutes…</p><p>They were starting to suspect something was…wrong. Their teacher should’ve been here by now, right?</p><p>Lena brought up the question that was on everyone’s minds as she asked aloud, “Where is our band teacher?”</p><p>The members of the class started looking around at each other, hoping someone would have an answer. But that unfortunately wasn’t the case. Seeing a perfect opportunity for a joke, Jesse opened his big fat mouth.</p><p>“Y’know,” He began with a particularly smug look smeared across his face. “Accordin’ to the law, if the teacher don’t show up fifteen minutes after class starts, we’re <em>legally</em> allowed to get up and leave.”</p><p>His statement was met with an almost unanimously negative response in the form of groans and sighs of annoyance from all across the band room.</p><p>“Y’know, everybody always says that but when fifteen minutes actually goes by, they still just sit there and do nothing.” Hana retorted, glaring back at him.</p><p>“Yeah, exactly.” Lúcio agreed. “I’d like to see you <em>actually</em> walk out that door.”</p><p>“Yeah and like, where would you even go?” Lena asked. “We still have seventh period so its not like you could go anywhere far.”</p><p>“Hey now, I’m jus’ sayin’ we should keep our options open.” Jesse defended, starting to feel some of the heat from his peers. “Besides, I’m sure I’m not the <em>only one</em> who would walk out too. Like, who else would leave with me?”</p><p>Unsurprisingly, there weren’t too many people who would go along with him, the only two raising their hands being Jamie and Olivia. </p><p>“So, basically the only other two people who have no common sense? Sounds about right.” Genji nodded his head.</p><p>“Oh, fuck off, we have plenty of common sense.” Olivia said, giving him the finger.</p><p>“Yeah!” Jamie exclaimed. “Enough common sense to know that this new <em>band director </em>probably ain’t even showing up!”</p><p>“Ok, but seriously though?” Zarya spoke up, having a valid concern. “It <em>has </em>been like, almost twenty minutes. Where is he?”</p><p>“That is…a really good question.” Brigitte said.</p><p>“Yeah, who knows? Maybe Angela was jus’ pullin’ a fast on us this entire time…” Jesse pondered, scratching at his chin.</p><p>“Hey, she wouldn’t do that!” Fareeha quickly defended her girlfriend. “She was telling me, Genji and Lena all about him at lunch!”</p><p>“That’s true. She was going into a lot of detail for it to be <em>just </em>a joke.” Genji agreed, backing her up.</p><p>“Well, where is he, then?” Hana asked once again.</p><p>“Maybe he left?” Olivia shrugged her shoulders.</p><p>“Why would he <em>do</em> that?” Zarya questioned, not seeing the logic behind her words.</p><p>It wasn’t a really thought idea and Olivia would be the first to admit it with, “I don’t know! I’m just throwing out ideas!”</p><p>“Hmm. Well, you think it’s safe to say that he’s probably not coming at this point?” Lúcio pondered.</p><p>“Maybe?” Fareeha said, still not really sure herself. “So what? We just sit here until sixth period is over?”</p><p>“I guess so.” Hana assumed.</p><p>“So…what do we even <em>do</em> until the end of class?” Lena asked aloud.</p><p>“Whatever we want to, I suppose.” Jesse offered as he leaned back in his chair.</p><p>Those were the worst words that could’ve come out of someone’s mouth today. Without a teacher supervising them, literal chaos would erupt. And these weren’t just any regular students, no sir, these were BAND students. Band students cause chaos without even trying. If they actually put their heart in it, it would be a total disaster waiting to erupt. </p><p>And who better to light fuse than Jamie who pulled a tennis ball out of his backpack.</p><p>“We could play…<em>wall ball</em>.” He said with a devious smile. “There’s plenty of space back here.”</p><p>For those unfamiliar with the game of “wall ball”, it’s just as simple as the name implies. All you need is a ball, a wall and at least one or more players. The objective is to throw the ball against the wall. If the ball you threw bounces off the wall and hits the floor, then you’re good to go. But if the ball you threw bounces off the wall and someone catches it <em>before </em>it hits the floor, then you have to stand against the wall and let that person throw that ball at you, with the goal of hitting you as hard as they can. This also occurs if the ball you threw makes contact with the floor before the wall.</p><p>The secret to is to throw the ball fast and low to the wall in order to best prevent others from catching it. Obviously, the game can get pretty violent pretty fast. But that’s what makes it fun in the eyes of those who play it!</p><p>There was certainly plenty of open space behind all the percussion equipment. But was it enough open space to play a rather violent game of wall ball? Probably not. But was that going to stop them? If you guessed, “No.” then congratulations because you would be dead correct.</p><p>“Hell yeah, I’m down.” Jesse grinned, excitedly getting up from his seat to join him.</p><p>“Sure, why not?” Olivia said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Beats sitting around doing nothing.”</p><p>“I could go for a round or two. Sure.” Lúcio contemplated. “We can just be careful around the instruments. No big deal.”</p><p>“Great!” Jamie laughed, successful in getting enough people to play his game.</p><p>While <em>that </em>mess was going on, the rest of the more…<em>levelheaded</em> band members either got together in small groups to just casually chat about their day or elected to just go on their phones instead. Why not? It was essentially a free period with no teacher in sight after a whole twenty-five minutes in class. Honestly, it was more surprising that they didn’t do it sooner.</p><p>But in all honesty though, where <em>was</em> Dr. de Kuiper while all this chaos was going on?</p><p>= = =</p><p>
  <em>Something doesn’t feel quite right… </em>
</p><p>The thought quickly popped up in the back of Moira’s head, causing her to briefly pause while in the middle of going over her syllabus. Arranged in front of her sat the chamber orchestra members as they followed along with their own syllabus copies in hand. She was in the middle of explaining her attendance policy, repeating the same lecture she had given Angela earlier in the day almost word for word. She was only doing so because some of her students, namely Hanzo, Baptiste and Ashe, arrived mere minutes before the bell rang for sixth period, winded and out of breath.</p><p>Questions aside, Moira saw an opportunity to <em>politely remind </em>them, and everybody else for that matter, that such tardiness would be <em>unacceptable </em>going forward. She was always making the most of the time they had together. All seven members within the class had their instruments at the ready because as soon as she was done covering everything she needed to, they would begin playing in order to make the most of their time on offer today.</p><p>But why was she starting to think that it wouldn’t be the case today?</p><p>She wasn’t entirely sure what <em>specifically</em> didn’t feel right, all she instinctually knew was that something in the air was just…off. Almost as if someone somewhere was getting up to no good and into a heap of trouble while she stands here droning on. Moira’s instincts were unusually quick to pick up on any sort of trouble making within a twenty five meter range. Something that was honed over years and years of constantly putting up with the bullshit of high schoolers.</p><p>It was a truly frightening power for her, of all people, to wield.</p><p>Try as she might to just ignore the feeling and continue on with her class, it was still making its presence known at the back of her mind. Quite frankly, it was starting to bother her. It could be nothing, but if that was the case, the feeling would’ve faded away from existence. That and the fact that when it came to teenagers, they were never doing “nothing”, always doing something. It was getting to the point where if she didn’t do something about it, she would remain constantly distracted and unable to give her class one hundred percent attention.</p><p>And that just wouldn’t do.</p><p>“Excuse me for one moment.” She sighed, placing her copy of the syllabus on her conductor’s stand as her class looked on in confusion. “Start getting warmed up and in tune. I’ll be back in a few moments. I just need to check on something.”</p><p>It was a bit unorthodox for Dr. O’Deorain to just up and leave during the middle of their class as none of them could ever really recall a moment like that. Still though, she left them all with a task and that’s all that mattered in that moment. As Moira made her way out the double doors of the orchestra room, they immediately went to work.</p><p>It wasn’t like she would be going very far as she already had a destination in mind, that being the band room whose double doors were a few meters away from the orchestra room’s. Although, as her hand came to the door’s handle, she was beginning to slightly doubt herself.</p><p>Dr. de Kuiper should be more than capable of holding a class, right? What if her instincts were just out of whack? To be fair, today had thrown all sorts of surprises at her. What with her private lesson being interrupted and Gabriel telling her to <em>introduce </em>herself to this new band teacher. The only logical surprise in this situation is that she opens the door only to see Dr. de Kuiper and his class doing what they're supposed to while she stands in the doorway looking like a fool for trusting her instincts. </p><p>But then again, she'd be a fool if something troubling <em>was </em>taking place behind the door and she didn't do a thing about it. </p><p>Well, in any case, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to just quickly check and make sure. If she’s subtle in how she goes about it, she may not even have to interact with Dr. de Kuiper or his students.</p><p>Let’s just hope that it would be the former and not the latter. </p><p>Moira cracked one of the doors open, just enough to assess the situation and immediately jumped back in shock, nearly sent tumbling down after a green blur shot past her face to make a loud crack against the wall. In trying to process what was going on, she could hear almost everyone in the room either talking at a loud volume or cheering on with laughter. Her brow furrowed in response as she realized her instincts were, as always, right.</p><p>Quickly composing herself on the spot, Moira made her grand entrance into the band room as she practically threw the door open, surprising or scaring just about everyone in the room. And oh boy, was she <em>pissed</em> at what she was seeing. Not only were the usual suspects, that being Jesse McCree, Jamison Fawkes and Olivia Colomar-Reyes, messing around and playing some sort of game involving a ball and a wall, but the rest of the class was also partaking in not-so academic activities.</p><p>Moira didn’t even know where to begin with this mess.</p><p>“Back to your seats, NOW!” She yelled from the top of her lungs, watching as everyone quickly scrambled back to some form of organization. “What is the meaning of this!?”</p><p>Surprisingly, she found her answer. Not from the students, but from the fact that a certain someone was missing from all of this. Looking around the room one more time, double checking just to make sure she was seeing things correctly, she presented the band with another more pressing question.</p><p>“Where is Dr. de Kuiper?” She asked through gritted teeth.</p><p>It didn’t get the reaction she was expecting as most of the students looked around at each other, confused as to who she was even talking about. Did she say his name wrong? She thought she heard him loud and clear during their brief introduction earlier. Why were they looking at her like they had no idea who that was?</p><p>“Um…” Lena spoke up, having the most experience out of anyone in the room when it came to talking to Dr. O’Deorain, considering the fact that she was dating her niece. “He hasn’t…shown up yet?”</p><p>“Hasn’t shown up?” Moira repeated, somehow even more confused than they were. “What do you mean he hasn’t shown up? Have you all been without a teacher for the past thirty minutes?”</p><p>Everyone looked around at each other before pretty much nodding their heads in unison. Moira wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that information yet. Hell, she wasn’t entirely sure what to do for a second. Well, maybe she should start with the main question of where in the world was Dr. de Kuiper during his class time?</p><p>Of all the things she has to deal with today, why did it have to be this? If there weren’t any students around, she would sure as hell be cursing to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Moira needed to find him, right now and fast. But before she could go off on her grand journey to find him, she had a few…words for the band to consider while she was gone.</p><p>“I expect you all to stay in your seats with lips sealed. If I hear a single sound emanating from this room or see anyone where they’re not supposed to be when I get back, <em>everyone gets a referral to the principal’s office</em>.” She growled, the venom in her voice getting the point across pretty well.</p><p>Thankfully, no one was stupid enough to challenge her, not even Jamie, as the class nodded their heads along in complete understanding. Moira gave everyone one last vicious look before exiting the band room.</p><p>She had to stop herself from slumping against the band room doors once she was out of sight. This was certainly no time for that as she apparently had a missing teacher to find! It shouldn’t be that hard to find him as Moira could easily spot him out in a crowd. But where to begin her search? Well, she supposed she should just start from square one and search the immediate area, or rather, his office. It’s not like he could go <em>too </em>far.</p><p>It was a short walk just around the corner as both their offices ran parallel to each other. Within a couple of seconds, she was right outside his door, already knocking on it. She was fairly surprised when she actually got a response from behind the door, telling her to come in. Had he been here this entire time?</p><p>“Oh! Dr. O’Deorain!” Siebren lit up as he looked up from his computer to see who entered his office. “What a surprise! You were just the person I was looking for!”</p><p>“W-What?” She said, giving him a perplexed look while trying to process his words.</p><p>How could he be looking for her when <em>she </em>was looking for <em>him</em>?</p><p>“Yes, I’m afraid I’ve been having trouble logging into the school’s Canvas system for the past couple of hours. I tried calling IT, but it appears as though they’re rather busy today and I didn’t want to disturb them anymore with my problems. I was just about ready to give up until you came knocking. I don’t suppose you could help an old man figure all this out?”</p><p>Moira just stood in the doorframe of the room, dumbfounded with mouth agape as she felt a brain cell or two flicker out. To be fair, she was <em>really </em>trying her best not to outright yell it him right now. Instead, she just took a deep breath before calmly exhaling it, centering herself. Bringing her palms together in front of her, she felt as though she could appropriately address the situation at hand.</p><p>“Dr. de Kuiper.” She calmly spoke as she closed her eyes. “Are you aware of what time it currently is right now?”</p><p>“Um, let me see. It’s about…oh, well it just hit 1:55. Why?” He inquired after looking at his phone.</p><p>“Dr. de Kuiper.” She repeated his name again in the same calm, but now eerie, tone of voice. “Are you aware of the fact that <em>your </em>sixth period band class started approximately thirty five minutes ago and that <em>your</em> students have been without a teacher for that same length of time, completely unsupervised and left to their own devices?”</p><p>Moira could practically see the gears in his old head slowly spin back to life as Siebren was beginning to put two and two together.</p><p>“Oh. <em>Oh</em>. Oh! Oh, dear!” He exclaimed, beginning to panic. “Oh heavens, I must’ve…must’ve lost track of the time! How on Earth could I let that happen? Oh my…”</p><p>She watched as Siebren began scrambling around, rummaging through the papers on his desk top as he gathered everything he needed for class. Although at this point, he probably didn’t even have enough time to do what he was originally planning to do, making all of this an even bigger waste of time. Moira stepped out into the hallway as Siebren came barreling out of his office, finally on his way to class as she elected in following behind him, her stride easily keeping up with his.  </p><p>If anything, she followed along just make sure he wouldn’t lost along the way. It honestly wouldn’t even surprise her at this point.</p><p>Thankfully though, that wasn’t the case as Siebren practically burst through the double doors of the band room, making at least one or two students jump in their seats.</p><p>“My apologies, class! I’m afraid I got a bit…er…distracted and lost track of time!” He nervously laughed, quickly making his way to the front of the room, placing his materials down on the conductor stand.</p><p>For the first time today, the students of symphonic band got a good look at their new director. As it turns out, Angela and her information were right all along! He had quite height advantage, not just over Dr. O’Deorain but just general! Never had they seen a man so tall before, let alone actually get to interact with him.</p><p>In between the awe and excitement, Moira cleared her throat before beginning to make her way back to her orchestra after wasting so much of her time with this. It was clear that she was no longer needed. Well, at least she <em>hoped </em>she wasn’t needed anymore. In the same breath, she also hoped that there wouldn’t be any repeat events such as today. But knowing her luck…</p><p>“Now, if you’ll excuse me, Dr. de Kuiper. I have a class to attend to.”</p><p>“O-Oh, um, thank you Dr. O’Deorain!” Siebren quickly called out to her. “For coming to get me, that is.”</p><p>Moira, who stopped in her tracks, looked back to shoot him a rather nasty glare before coldly returning with, “Think nothing of it.”</p><p>With that, the red head made her way out the door but not before slamming it shut. Siebren and the band could hear one more door slam, this time of the orchestra room door, albeit a bit faint. After a moment of silence, it seemed as though she finally returned back into her lair.</p><p>“I think it’s…safe to say I haven’t made the best first impression on her.” Siebren laughed at his own expense, feeling slightly better that some of his new students laughed along with him.</p><p>“No, it’s fine!” Hana assured him. “She’s like that with everybody!”</p><p>This earned a stifled chuckle from him while other students had a nice laugh as well. Siebren just shook his head before saying, “Then there’s hope for me yet, apparently.”</p><p>Well, if he couldn’t make a good first impression on the good doctor, he was certainly making up for it by making a good impression on his new band as they laughed once again at his little joke. If anything, it was Dr. O’Deorain’s loss.</p><p>“I suppose I should properly introduce myself…” Siebren said before promptly clearing his throat. “Good afternoon, members of this year’s symphonic band! My name is Dr. Siebren de Kuiper and I will be your new band director going forward.”</p><p>Siebren certainly didn’t expect everyone to begin cheering and clapping in response to such simple information and yet they were. Were they really <em>that </em>excited about him? Either way, he had to wait a bit for their excitement to settle down before continuing his introduction.</p><p>“Uh, let’s see…a little more information about me. As I’m sure you can tell,” He began, gesturing at his head of white unkempt hair. “I’ve been teaching for quite some time now. I’ve taught just about everything from elementary on upwards to graduate school level courses. I have plenty of experience when it comes to, and actually quite prefer, high school. Previously before my…shall we say…’premature retirement’ three years ago, I was a professor at the Brady Institute of Music Arts for over 7 years.”</p><p>“No way! Seriously!?” Lúcio lit up from the back of the room. “That’s the school I want to go to!”</p><p>“Do you now?” Siebren questioned, a warm smile across his face. “If that’s the case, then I’m sure we can make that happen if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, of course.”</p><p>“Of course! You know it, boss man!”</p><p>Siebren was quite surprised that someone not only heard about his previous place of work, but also wanted to go there. Small world, isn’t it? It was actually quite nice to see someone so young already beginning to think about the future that they wanted for themselves. Brady Institute could definitely use a bright young man like him. He was already so excited to able to teach him and everyone else!</p><p>A hand shot up in the back row, belonging to Lena as Siebren was quickly pulled from his thoughts before calling on her.</p><p>“I have a question.” She curiously asked.</p><p>“I have an answer. Perhaps they match?” Siebren playfully returned, earning yet another round of laughter from the band. He was killing it today!</p><p>“You said something about a…premature retirement?” Lena tried to recall his wording. “Why’d you retire and then come back after three years?”</p><p>Siebren had expected someone to ask him about that almost as soon as he brought it up, it was just a matter of when. He couldn’t blame her curious mind. Thankfully, he prepared simple answer for it, wanting to spare the…troubling details and reasoning of his ‘premature retirement’ from his students. It was more important for someone like Dr. Amari or Dr. Morrison to know, not them. He already had a hard time explaining it to those two in private during his interview and they were adults.</p><p>He certainly didn’t want to bring down the current mood of the classroom, especially not while everyone seemed so happy and excited to have him.</p><p>“Well, I retired for…personal reasons. Thought that I was getting a bit too old to be teaching. But in that time off…I found that wasn’t completely the case and realized I still wanted to continue doing it despite those previous thoughts. And so, here I am today.”</p><p>The class seemed to be content with that answer, much to his relief as they didn’t follow up with any more questions about it. In any case, Siebren wanted to move on and quickly change the subject away from that.</p><p>“As for some fun facts about me, I can play just about any instrument you put in front of me, but I do have a preference for acoustic guitar. I…actually played in a little garage band with my friends when I was around your ages. Before you ask, no, we weren’t very good at all. Also, believe it or not but back in my prime, I actually used to be a great competitive swimmer in college. I set some old school records that have yet to be beaten to this day. Oh! And I have a grey cat named Gilbert, who has been with me for qu-“</p><p>“You have a cat? <em>I have a cat</em>!” Brigitte exclaimed, interrupting his sentence. “I <em>looovvvve </em>cats! Can we see him? Do you have any pictures of him?”</p><p>“Oh, um, well perhaps later on, maybe?” Siebren stammered, caught off guard by this girl and her apparent love for cats. “But that does segway into my next topic. You all know a bit about me, so I think it’s fair that I should get to know a bit about you all! So, who would like to go first?”</p><p>Unfortunately for Siebren, the bell signaling the end of sixth period rang out in the room, putting an end to their introductions for the first day. Man, time just wasn’t on his side today, was it?</p><p>“Ah, well, I suppose we’ll have to save the rest of introductions for our next class together.”</p><p>Much to his surprise, it seemed as though some of the students were actually disappointed in the fact, letting out an audible aww of disappointment much like a daytime television crowd.</p><p>“Just when it was getting interesting…” Fareeha said, getting her stuff together.</p><p>“Yeah, I know right?” Jesse agreed.</p><p>“Ugh, do we really have to go to seventh period?” Olivia groaned.</p><p>Siebren honestly didn’t think he made <em>that </em>much of an impact, but he certainly wasn’t complaining in being proven wrong.</p><p>“Don’t worry, my friends. We’ll have plenty of time tomorrow in class for proper introductions.” He assured them.</p><p>“But we don’t have this class tomorrow.” Lena spoke up. “Tomorrow’s an A day. Band is on B days.”</p><p>Oh yeah, that’s right. How could he forget about block scheduling?</p><p>“O-Oh. That’s…um…right. I knew that, of course. Ha ha…”</p><p>Just before everyone started exiting the room, Siebren had one last bit of important information for next class.</p><p>“Oh, be sure to bring your instruments next class as well! I would like to get a bit of playing in after those introductions. Other than that, you are all free to go and I look forward to our proper first class together! I’ll…try my best not to be late next time…”</p><p>With that, he waved goodbye as his students exited the classroom, one by one as they made their way to their seventh period class to end off the first day of school. Once the last person was out of the classroom, Siebren breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>He somehow made it through his first day back to school. Sure, things got a bit distracting somewhere in the middle of things but that honestly went a lot better than he initially expected. Just look at him go. He was starting to feel a lot better about his decision to come back. Not only that, but he was actually quite proud of himself for taking such a huge step in his already old life and was somehow successful in doing so.</p><p>Siebren also had the fleeting feeling that <em>he </em>would also be proud of him and his accomplishments today.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>We're actually almost done with this first story arc with the next chapter being the final one in "Here For Nothing". So yeah, how cool is that? Also just to clarify, if it isn't clear, the italicized "he" is referring to someone else in the last sentence, not Siebren. That's all I can say on that for now. Otherwise, Moira still has that obligation to properly introduce herself to Siebren. So that should be interesting for next time. </p><p>Until next time and take care.</p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Here For Nothing Pt. 5 [End]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Moira fulfills her obligation to Dr. Reyes as she and Siebren finally get introductions out of the way. </p><p>Siebren is also presented with an idea of sorts, courtesy of Dr. Morrison.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello, we're back at it again with a new chapter.</p><p>First, I have to make a slight change to the continuity and bring that to light. In the previous chapter I said that Siebren had been teaching at the Brady Institute for 25 years. That was false and should be changed by the time you're seeing this. I thought it would fit with the story's continuity but as I went back to do the math, it just didn't make much sense and I had to change it. So, now I can say, for sure, that Siebren taught at the Brady Institute for 7 years instead of 25. His cumulated time teaching in general is 28 years, including that 7. </p><p>There shouldn't be anymore problems like that going forward and the wrong information it should be updated to the correct value after I upload this chapter.</p><p>Second, this chapter was supposed to be much longer but, in the end, I decided against it, feeling like this was a good end to this first story arc. What I originally had planned is what we'll start off next chapter with the start of a new story arc. </p><p>That should be it. Don't let any more of my rambling stop you from reading this chapter. I hope you enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Surprisingly, seventh period came and went just like that, keeping in theme with all the fast-moving parts of a big day like this. As the minute hand hit 3:01 p.m., the final bell of the day blared throughout the hallways and classroom once more, signaling the end of the first day for this new school year. Contrary to a lot of the faculty’s expectations for the day, the school miraculously <em>didn’t </em>catch on fire or implode in on itself, crumbling to ground in a rocky pile.</p><p>Today actually went pretty well, all things considered. Although, it was anyone’s guess as to when things <em>wouldn’t </em>go so well.</p><p>Like a dam breaking, the hallways were practically flooded with students this time of day as it was a bit more chaotic compared to the morning rush. But could you really blame the organized chaos? Students and teachers alike were ready to get out of this hellhole and back to the comfort of their own homes and away from everyone else. At least until tomorrow morning when they would have to get up bright and early, just to repeat the process of going back to school over and over.</p><p>It was already bad enough getting up early. But <em>actually </em>having to learn and take in knowledge that early in the morning was a whole other ordeal.</p><p>Somewhere within that mess and mass of people, Emily O’Deorain was making her way down to the orchestra room where her aunt would be, no doubt already packed up and ready to go home. Over the years, Moira had developed an afternoon dismissal plan that usually got them home 20 to 30 minutes after school officially let out. The last place any teacher would want to be during their time off was school. The faster you got home, the more time you had to recharge and relax.</p><p>And if anyone needed that precious time, it was Moira. Especially after a day of constant interruptions. Emily knew better than to keep her waiting, making her way through the double doors of the orchestra room.</p><p>“Hey, how was your day today?” Emily asked, before noticing that her aunt was still at her desk, seemingly not even packed up like she would usually be. “Are you…ready to go?”</p><p>“Same old, same old.” Moira replied, hands above her head as she was in middle of getting a good stretch in. “And, unfortunately, no.”</p><p>“Really? I thought you said you didn’t have anything after school? Usually you’re like, already halfway to the car by now, telling me I’m going to left here and have to walk home if I don’t hurry up.”</p><p>“I’ve done no such thing.” Moira quipped, feigning innocence as she placed an open palm on her chest.</p><p>“Of course, you haven’t.” Emily rolled her eyes, playing along with her own sarcasm. “I’m just saying, we can’t all be as <em>gifted </em>as you with those long legs. You should join Lena on the track team with how fast you are at getting out of here.”</p><p>“Mm, trust me. If you were in my position and dealing with the constant headache of everyone making their problems <em>your </em>problems, then you would be in a hurry to get home too.”</p><p>“Yeah. Again, I really don’t see the appeal of being a teacher. Don’t think I’m ever going to follow in your footsteps for that one. Sorry to disappoint!”</p><p>“Oh, you’ll be better off because of it. Both physically and mentally.” She dryly remarked, still feeling that pain in her lower back she tried in vain to address. “As someone who dedicated most of their life to teaching, don’t ever become a teacher.”</p><p>“Thanks for the constant reminder. You tell me that like, every other day.” Emily laughed, taking a seat in the last chair in the front row of the orchestra. “So, what do you even have left to do?”</p><p>“Under Gabriel’s…<em>orders</em>, I need to introduce myself to Dr. de Kuiper.”</p><p>“The new band director, right?” Emily asked, receiving an answer in the form of a nod from her aunt. “Sound’s fun. Lena was texting me and Amélie about him throughout seventh period. He sounds pretty cool from what I’ve heard. Also, was Lena making up the fact that he didn’t show up until the end of class? Because I feel like she was making it up.”</p><p>“I’m afraid that was the case. Hence the reason I stepped out in the middle of class.” Moira painfully recalled, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Thank goodness I trusted my instinct. I can’t even imagine how much more chaos could’ve occurred in the band room if I didn’t.”</p><p>“Oh, come on. It didn’t sound like it was <em>that </em>bad.”</p><p>“They were violently throwing a tennis ball at a wall as a form of entertainment.” Moira immediately shot back, standing up from her seat at the desk beginning to make her way across the room. “It’s a miracle no percussion equipment was harmed in the process.”</p><p>“Ah. Lena didn’t tell me that.”</p><p>“Mm, I’m not surprised.” She muttered, making her way across the room.</p><p>“On your way to your little introduction?” Emily asked, met with a less than enthusiastic hum in confirmation. “How long do you think it will take?”</p><p>“Hopefully not very long. I plan to be in and out as soon as possible.” Moira replied, her stride already reaching the double doors of the orchestra room.</p><p>“Well, have fun!” She smiled, waving her aunt off in the hopes that their meeting wouldn’t be too bad for her.</p><p>Moira, being her ever optimistic self, replied with a concise, “I doubt the possibility of that ever happening.”</p><p>Stepping out into the hallway from the orchestra room, Moira had to make a guess as to where Dr. de Kuiper would be before ultimately deciding to check his newly occupied office. If this would be anything like earlier, she would probably put money on the fact that he might be there, perhaps still trying in vain to log into the school’s Canvas system. She let out a sigh, shaking her head at the possibility of the thought.</p><p>Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he wasn’t in his office as the door sat ajar, offering a small look into the dark and empty space. Well, if he wasn’t there, then there was only one other place he could be, hopefully. Opposite to the situation from earlier, she found herself in front of the band room door, sincerely hoping he was here so she could just get this over with already. As she reached for the door handle, she could hear Gabriel’s words from earlier playback in her head.</p><p>
  <em>“Try to be nice to him, please. You know? If you actually know how to do that?”</em>
</p><p>She could be nice and wasn’t like she didn’t know how! It’s just that…there’s not a lot of people in her life that have earned that right to see her “nice”. Moira greatly preferred keeping things professional and business like, especially when it came to anything involving school. To her, there was a defined line between how she acted in her own personal environment compare to how she acted in a school environment. She liked to keep both sides as far away from each other as possible, making a conscious effort to do so. She was here to do her job as a teacher and that was it.</p><p>Her being “nice” was something to be earned, much like respect. If students <em>actually</em> listened to her and followed directions, there wouldn’t be any problem with her returning it back their way. But, alas, that was not the case. That had never been the case. Instead of letting them trample all over her, she took control, becoming a bit stricter in the process of standing up for herself.</p><p>But even then, such an emotion, being “nice”, was reserved for those <em>extremely </em>close to her. Like Emily. And…well, honestly? That was really the only person she could think of in the current moment. Perhaps Gabriel was right? Maybe she could stand to make a new…friend. But one thing at a time here. Her first impressions of Dr. de Kuiper weren’t very high and, going into this, she really didn’t expect it to change.</p><p>But, in thinking back to Gabriel’s words, she should…at least give him the benefit of the doubt and start anew, forming a proper opinion from everything past this interaction. She would put that small dilemma from earlier behind them and move on from it. There was no reason to dwell on it really. It was an honest mistake. Moira knew firsthand how brutal the first day of school could be, especially for a new teacher.</p><p>Hell, her first day teaching didn’t go any better than his, maybe even worse in some regards. She shuddered at the less than pleasant memory, not about to dig it up once again.</p><p>Teachers constantly put up with <em>a lot</em> of shit. It could be an incredibly taxing job if you let it. Hell, it was an incredibly taxing job in general! Teenagers could be downright vicious at times.  Sometimes it was just best to let things go, you couldn’t hang on to every little insult or jab that came your way. It took awhile for her to learn that, maybe a bit longer than it should’ve…</p><p>But never mind that. Moira took a deep breath to center herself once again, ready to start anew with Dr. de Kuiper as she knocked on the band room doors before entering. She didn’t wait for his answer, just barging on in as she just wanted to get this over with. Dr. de Kuiper sat at a grand piano just off to the right side of his whiteboard in the front of the room, having turned it into a desk of sorts with all the papers and materials atop the closed lid.</p><p>He looked quite surprised to see her of all people enter the room. Although, he really didn’t know who to expect in the first place. It wasn’t like he knew a lot people or anything.</p><p>“Oh, um…hello again, D-Dr. O’Deorain.” Siebren cautiously greeted, wondering if the good doctor had come back to give him a piece of her mind about earlier. “I…uh…I’m…terribly sorry about earlier, really. I – “</p><p>“It’s alright, Dr. de Kuiper.” She said, throwing up a hand to prevent him from apologizing further.  “I fully understand the fact that you’re still adjusting to way we do things around here. It’s an honest mistake. I’d rather we just put it behind us and move forward.”</p><p>Siebren breathed a quiet sigh of relief, trying not to make it too obvious to her hypercritical eyes. He honestly didn’t know what to expect when she made her appearance. Even better that her first impression of him wouldn’t include his lapse in time management from earlier.  </p><p>“Thank you for that as well as coming to get me earlier. I…truly appreciate the fact. For both of those things, I mean.”</p><p>“Of course. Seeing as though we’ll be working in the same department, it is only natural for some sort of collaboration to occur between us.” She says, using Gabriel’s words from earlier to help her along in small talk.</p><p>“I wholeheartedly agree.” He says, giving her a genuine smile.</p><p>Things went quiet for a moment as a short awkward silence crept up on the two. She expected a bit more to work off of so she could possibly weave it back to the topic of introductions. Moira didn’t do small talk very well. She was never able to properly wrap her head around it, avoiding it entirely whenever possible. Thankfully, while she was still thinking of a response, Siebren spoke up, beating her to it. </p><p>“So…um…how can I help you this afternoon?” He asked, still not sure if there was more to this conversation or not. “Is there…something you needed of me or?”</p><p>Should she say something about her having an obligation in doing this or would that be rude? Wait, scratch that. That is pretty rude, and she might come off as disingenuous. Moira wanted to <em>try</em> and make an effort here, at the very least.</p><p>“As I said earlier in the day,” She began, crossing her arms. “I was saving lengthy introductions for later in the day. More so at a time where we both weren’t too busy with the…chaos that can come from the first day.”  </p><p>“Oh, I see! But of course, that’s very true! I almost completely forgot you mentioned that. Everything was just moving so fast this morning!” He laughed to himself. “So, where should we start?”</p><p>“I suppose I’ll go first.” Moira elected before clearing her throat. “As I’m sure you’ve no doubt heard from others by now, I am Dr. Moira O’Deorain, the chamber orchestra director here at the <em>lovely</em>,” She says with the roll of her eyes and a circular motion with her hand. “Athena High School. This year marks my fifteenth consecutive year teaching as well as serving as said director.”</p><p>“Fifteen years is quite the important milestone.” Siebren nodded his head along. “All the more impressive that you’ve remained at the same place as well! I take it you must really like it here?”</p><p>“Mm, I’m impartial to this place and to those that inhabit it. It wasn’t my first choice but ended up being the most convenient in the long run. My niece, whom I have guardianship over, just so happens to attend school here, making it quite the convenient situation for the two of us.”</p><p>“You’re right, that does indeed sound very convenient!” He said, thinking of other colleagues who had similar situations with their child attending their school. With education on the mind, Siebren was curious as to where she studied, asking, “If I may ask, where did you happen to study?”</p><p>“I obtained my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education at Oasis University. After that, I went through the PhD program at the Talon School of Music.” She says, quite proud of her accomplishments in higher education as well as where she studied.</p><p>“Oh, Oasis?” Siebren says, already a bit familiar with the school she was taking about. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about that school, especially it’s musical arts program. Same goes for the Talon School of Music. Tell me, are at all familiar with a professor Birsch? Brian Birsch?”</p><p>Moira didn’t have to think very long on the name as she immediately recognized the name, able to easily put a face to it.</p><p>“Yes, actually. He was one of the professors on the committee for my dissertation defense.” She recalls, a bit curious as to how he relates to Dr. de Kuiper. “How do you know him?”</p><p>“He happens to be a colleague of mine. The two of us actually shared a lot of classes together back in our undergraduate days.” Siebren admits with a chuckle. “He was quite the ‘party animal’, believe it or not.”</p><p>“Was he really?” Moira asks, remembering professor Birsch for his overall seriousness and no-nonsense attitude when it came to his style of teaching. He would be the last person she’d expect as a “party animal” in any sense.</p><p>“Oh, yes. Don’t tell him I told you this but, he would drunkenly dial me on occasion thinking I was the local pizza place.” He recalled, trying to hold back some of his laughter. “I can’t tell you how many times he tried to order a pizza from me. He has such a strange taste regarding his preferred toppings.”</p><p>Moira couldn’t help the small huff of laughter that escaped her mouth, finding that information to actually be quite funny. Try as she might, she wasn’t able to imagine her former professor doing something so out of character like that.</p><p>“Where did the two of you study?” She asked. “I don’t believe I’m at all familiar as to where he went.”</p><p>“I'm not so sure where he went either. But as for undergraduate, both of us attended Hammond College where I double majored in musical performance and education. It's also where I knocked out my graduate studies as well.”</p><p>“I've heard the name before. But I'm afraid that's all my knowledge on it.” Moira plainly stated.</p><p>“It's a little out of the way.” Siebren explained. “You're not the first, and certainly won't be the last person who isn’t very familiar with the school. Quite opposite to that, I'm more than positive that you're at least somewhat familiar with the school I obtained my PhD from. Everyone in our field has some degree of knowledge on it.”</p><p>“Oh?” She said with a slight raise of her eyebrow. She’d be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat curious. Although, she wasn't expecting anything <em>too </em>crazy. To her it seemed as though Dr. de Kuiper might be tooting his own horn here with how much he was hyping it up. Moira never gave into the hype of anything and she wasn't going to start now.</p><p>“Yes, I…actually went through the PhD program at the Brady Institute. Not only that, but I also taught there for about…7 years, if I remember correctly?” He sheepishly admitted.</p><p>Whoa, now. Hold up. Did she seriously hear that correctly? Was he seriously talking about <em>the </em>Brady Institute? Moira was actually taken aback by that information. The Brady Institute is one of, most likely even, the best music schools in the entire country. Perhaps even the world depending on who you asked as the school had the knack for pumping out amazing musicians within modern times. Of course, with such fame came the infamy of how notoriously competitive it was to get in.</p><p>Having one of those accolades was already enough but for someone to not only go there but also <em>teach </em>there as well was something else entirely.</p><p>“That is…quite impressive, Dr. de Kuiper. Very few can attest to both of those…major achievements…” She truthfully admitted. Even she could recognize how important that was. In between this unlikely surprise however, there was also something she was more than curious about. Perhaps even a bit suspicious about the more she thought about it.</p><p>“If you'll excuse me for asking, Dr. de Kuiper, why is someone of your…stature teaching high school of all things?” Moira brought up, choosing her words carefully. “Surely, you could…for lack of better words, do better than something like this?”</p><p>Siebren, of course, anticipated a question like that once again today. It was roughly the same thing that was asked at the end of his interview by the two principals. It made sense to tell them but what about when it came to her? Did Dr. O'Deorain deserve to know the full truth or an abridged version leaving out the unpleasant details? In his mind, no.</p><p>Reason being, he barely knew her, save for a couple of things here and there. Not only did he not want to dump his emotional baggage on her just like that but the matter was extremely personal to him. The information was strictly on a need to know basis and unfortunately, for right now, Dr. O'Deorain wasn't an individual who fit the bill. She was just his coworker, not his boss or anything. Perhaps somewhere down the line he might change his mind? Although it was anyone's guess as to how their relationship would progress. Abridged version it was, for now.</p><p>“Yes, well…” He stammered, avoiding her gaze until the words were out. “I was a professor at the institute…until roughly three years ago. My…mental health took a dive off the deep end. So much so that I took a…what I call a “premature retirement.” Somewhere in between that time off, I…felt myself slowly getting better and to the point where I realized retirement wasn't what I wanted nor even needed anymore. With that, I decided to go back to teaching but not start out in such a…demanding environment such as the Institute. I thought it to be much easier on myself if I started at my teaching roots and somewhere not as demanding, slowly working my way back up. If that makes any sense?”</p><p>Siebren technically wasn't lying with those words. It was the honest truth, spared of the nitty gritty details. Hopefully it would be enough to satisfy the red head for the time being.</p><p>“Yes, I understand. That makes some sense but definitely explains things for me.” Moira said with a slight nod of her head. She didn’t need him to explain any further as she visibly see it was something he didn’t want to go into detail about. She could respect that. Seeing an opportunity, she began to shift the conversation away from it. “So, I take it you have some experience with high school?”</p><p>Breathing another sigh of relief at her acceptance of his answer, Siebren looked up before replying, “Yes. Ten years experience, actually. Not as much as you but enough to get around. I actually prefer teaching high school if I'm being quite honest. It's just the right amount of simple in my eyes.”</p><p>Letting out another short huff of laughter, Moira remarked, “I assure you, high school and its inhabitants are anything but.”</p><p>“Well, it's certainly much simpler compared to middle school.” He laughed. “After about three years, I had more than enough of that experience.”</p><p>“Mm. I could never. I don't think my patience would last a year in that dreadful environment.” She said, cringing at the very thought.</p><p>“Yes, you should consider yourself quite lucky. I still get nightmares about it every now and again.” Siebren joked.</p><p>To his surprise, it actually got a brief but seemingly genuine laugh from her. Not only was it good to know he was making up for his first impression but also that the good doctor didn't have the ice cold heart others said she had. It was quite pleasant to see a genuine side of her.</p><p>As for Moira herself, she’d be lying if she said she wasn't having a somewhat decent time right now. Dr. de Kuiper did seem like genuinely nice person. While she wasn't immediately jumping at the opportunity to “make friends” with him, he could, at the very least, hold some of her interest in conversation. It was a lot more than she ever expected to come out of this little introduction session. Thank goodness she decided to start anew with him.</p><p>Perhaps collaboration between them wouldn't be as bad as she initially thought?</p><p>Unfortunately for the two, their pleasant conversation was soon interrupted by a knock at the door as they both turned their heads toward its direction. Stepping through one of the double doors of the band room was none other than assistant principal Dr. Jack Morrison. While Siebren lit up upon recognizing who he was, Moira, on the other hand, was less than pleased upon seeing the man, her facial features adopting cold but stoic gaze.</p><p>Dr. Morrison, similar to his assistant principal counterpart, was also rocking a two-piece suit, although his was a dark navy blue to Reyes’ tan. The similarities didn’t end there as both men had quite the charismatic smiles. But while Reyes’ smile was more goofy and outgoing, Morrison’s smile was more reserved and professional, fitting of his personality.</p><p>“I thought I would find you here.” Dr. Morrison smiled, making his way towards the two. “I’ve been looking for you. When I didn’t see you in your office, I thought you had already left before I got a chance to check in on you. How has your day been Dr. de Kuiper?”</p><p>“Oh! Dr. Morrison! What a pleasant surprise! My day has gone surprisingly well for the first day back. Dr. O’Deorain and I were just getting to know each other a bit.” He says, motioning his hand toward her. “How was your first day?”</p><p>“So, I see…“ Dr. Morrison quickly mused to himself, returning a look just as cold to Moira before he professionally greeted her with a toneless, “Dr. O’Deorain.”</p><p>“Dr. Morrison.” She coldly returned without another word.</p><p>Siebren wasn’t able to properly notice the exchange as Dr. Morrison quickly turned his attention back on him as a sort of distraction almost.</p><p>“The first day went about as smoothly as it could be for me and the other principals.” He said, ignoring the daggers from Moira’s gaze. “Seldom any behavioral issues or even issues in general for that matter.”</p><p>“That’s quite good to hear! Seems you all know how to run your ship!” Siebren smiled before realizing Dr. O’Deorain was already halfway across the room, making her way towards the doors. “Leaving so soon, Dr. O’Deorain? I’m more than certain Dr. Morrison can let us finish up our conversa-“</p><p>“No. It’s fine, Dr. de Kuiper.” She cut him off with the same cold tone of voice, not even looking at him. “I’m sure Dr. Morrison has more…<em>important </em>things to say…”</p><p>With that, Moira made her exit without much of a fuss. Her behavior was a bit strange to Siebren as she seemed fine just a minute ago. He didn’t have time to dwell on it however, as he had another person to entertain for the time being.</p><p>“You said you wanted to check on me?” Siebren asked, pulling his eyes away from the double doors.</p><p>“Yes, I did. Consider it a follow up to this morning with Dr. Amari. Of course, her schedule is full this afternoon, hence why she’s not here. But she sent a familiar face in the form of me to check up on you.”</p><p>That was actually quite nice to hear for Siebren. It really seemed as though the upper management genuinely cared for him with Dr. Amari in the morning and now Dr. Morrison after the fact. He was just getting more and more comfortable as the day went along and it was certainly thanks to them.</p><p>“Thank you, Dr. Morrison. You and Dr. Amari both. I truly appreciate you all’s concern for my wellbeing and transition back into the school environment. It has made this whole process so much easier.” Siebren truthfully admitted.</p><p>“Of course, Siebren. Any time. It is of great importance to us that you feel as comfortable as possible here. Me, Dr. Amari and Dr. Reyes are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. This school is only as strong as the faculty we have and you’re apart of that now. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to let us know and we’ll get on it as soon as possible.”</p><p>“Thank you once again for that. Although, for now, you all are doing plenty.”</p><p>“Good to hear.” Dr. Morrison smiled. “That being said, there is one thing I wanted to give you a sort of…heads up about.”</p><p>“Of course. I’m all ears.” Siebren said, curious as to what this could even be about.</p><p>“I’m going to be honest with you, Dr. de Kuiper.” He said, crossing his arms as he looked back towards the double doors for a second. “I don’t know if Dr. Amari has told you, but…we’ve had <em>several</em> complaints in the past regarding our orchestra director, Dr. O’Deorain.”</p><p>Oh. So, that’s what this was about…</p><p>“She…didn’t go into great detail about it, no. But she told me there were some…troubles?” Siebren nervously admitted, shifting around in his seat a bit.</p><p>“Yes, there were. They were hopefully resolved.” Dr. Morrison explained, glancing back at the door every now again, almost expecting Moira to be within ears range. “Dr. O’Deorain is on a sort of…probation, so to speak, with me and Dr. Amari. One more slip up and we’ve no other choice than to let her go. As hard as it was finding someone like you, this school can’t afford losing another teacher from such a niche area. That being said, if you happen to hear or see anything from other students or even yourself, you come straight to me. Do you understand?”</p><p>That was…a lot to take in. A lot more than he ever could've guessed. Siebren honestly wasn't sure how to take this…heed of warning from Dr. Morrison. There was clearly some bad blood between Dr. O'Deorain and the upper management. But he wasn't about to let all of that taint their coworker relationship. For now, he would tell Dr. Morrison what he wanted to hear while keeping his opinions to himself for now.</p><p>“Yes, I…I understand, Dr. Morrison.” Siebren ultimately agreed, not because he wanted to but rather, he felt as though he had no other option. “But I thought you said the school couldn’t afford losing someone like her?”</p><p>“Yes. But if we’re lucky, you could take her position, being both the band <em>and </em>orchestra director.” He revealed his general idea. “Between you and me, someone like you is way better suited to job. It should be no problem for you <em>if </em>that ends up happening. Dr. Amari likes to give the benefit of the doubt as well as second chances, but with Dr. O’Deorain? Personally, I’m not so sure. If it were my decision, she currently wouldn't even be here.”</p><p>“I…I see…” Siebren stammered, unsure how to feel about the idea.</p><p>Dr. Morrison was thinking twelve steps ahead while Siebren was remaining in the present, taking things one day at a time. His concerns right now were just getting home so he could feed his cat, not whatever…plan Dr. Morrison was anticipating. Oh dear, why did he have to worry about this now? He switched to high school to get away from the drama, not end up in more of it! He was supposed to be here for nothing! “Nothing” being just another normal job as a high school band director!</p><p>Seems like wherever he goes carries has its own set of drama. It could've just as easily been any other of his choices. There was, unfortunately, no escaping it, he guessed.</p><p>“Again,” Dr. Morrison spoke up, pulling him out his thoughts for a brief moment. “I just felt as though it was fair in letting you know. I know you have a lot on your plate but I hope this doesn't add any more to it. You don't have to do anything outside of letting me know if you see anything.”</p><p>“Y-Yes, I…thank you, Dr. Morrison. For letting me know, I mean.” Siebren said. “I suppose it's better than being kept in the dark with such a delicate matter. The heads up is well appreciated.”</p><p>“Of course, it's our job to look out for you and everyone else, keeping the best interests in mind. I'll get out of your hair now so that you can get out of here and go home. If you need me or Dr. Amari, then you know where to find us.” He said, making his way towards the doors. “I trust that you'll keep this information between us?”</p><p>“Y-Yes. Of course, Dr. Morrison.”</p><p>“Good.” Dr. Morrison nodded along, pausing in the doorframe for a moment. “And one last thing, Siebren?”</p><p>Oh dear, what now?</p><p>“Yes?” He replied, bracing himself for anything at this point.</p><p>“Just wanted to say thank you for coming here. My daughter, Hana, has been talking a lot about you after your class. It's…the first time in a while that she's actually excited for band class. I can already tell that you're going to do great things here. I'm sure of it.” Dr. Morrison assured him with a smile.</p><p>Siebren couldn’t help but smile in response, glad that he was apparently already making a difference.</p><p>“Thank you. It's what I'm here for, I suppose.”</p><p>Dr. Morrison gave another nod before exiting the room entirely. Ok, maybe he wasn't just “here for nothing”. Perhaps he was here for something? Although, it felt like he was here for more than just than the students, but perhaps some of his coworkers as well? Maybe he would get a clearer picture of what exactly it was down the line.</p><p>As for Dr. O’Deorain, it was very easy to just give in to someone else's view on others but Siebren wasn't one to do that. He liked approaching things from multiple angles. He truly wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and form his own opinion on her, untainted by the current views on her. Siebren was genuinely enjoying their conversation from earlier and it looked like she was too. He wasn't about to jump to conclusions without properly getting to know her. That simply wasn't fair and Dr. O’Deorain deserved better than that.</p><p>It was the least he could do. If she was willing to give him a second chance this afternoon, then it was only appropriate for him to form his own opinion on her.</p><p>But for now, Siebren would just focus on his job as band director and let things naturally occur, continuing to take things one day at a time. There wasn’t much else he could do besides that. There was no sense in worrying about things that haven’t occurred yet. If, and when, it came time for anything, he would deal with it in the heat of the moment. It’s what he’d done up to this point in his life and it was working out just fine for him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is sort of ambitious for me, a long slow burn fic. This story arc is 1 of 16. That's right. There are 15 more planned story arcs coming up in the future. And this is, quite literally, just the beginning. Strap yourselves in cause it's going to be a long one!</p><p>Join us next time as we begin the next story arc, appropriately titled, "Welcome to the Family"! </p><p>Until next time and take care. </p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Welcome to the Family Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>With Siebren on time to class this time around, he's finally able to properly meet his new students through a simple, but often dreaded, icebreaker activity. </p><p>He also gets a chance to finally hear the band in action for the first time, proposing a little game for them in the form of "Scale Survivor"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh hello. Here's another long chapter to make up for not updating this sooner. In between working on Kinktobers and this the past couple of weeks, I've just been a bit more out of it and a bit more depressed than usual. Not a lot of energy nowadays but it's alright. I can manage.  </p><p>Also, fuck me. I need to make another small change. Zarya is now a trombonist instead of a euphonium player. Nothing against euphonium players but I feel like you just have to have a trombone in concert band lol. I'm just trying to make sure all the major concert band parts are covered and we just kind of have to make do with the small cast we have. </p><p>Don't be surprised if I forget something again, but if I do, I will usually put a fix in the beginning notes. Forgive me, but there is just so much to keep track in this story lmao</p><p>More at the end. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sitting at the grand piano just in front of the whiteboard on its right-hand side, Siebren anxiously checked his phone for the umpteenth time again today, his stomach doing a little flip upon seeing the current time of 1:15 in the afternoon. Exactly five minutes until the bell would ring once again, signaling the end of the current lunch period or 4<sup>th</sup> period for those in class. But more importantly, just fifteen more minutes until the start of his first proper class since being back, his 6<sup>th</sup> period symphonic band class.</p><p>Despite the “pre-game jitters” in anticipation of it all, he was about as ready as he could be or at least certainly more ready compared to last time. Siebren was actually <em>in </em>the band room this time around, anxiously, but also eagerly, awaiting his students’ arrival to class. He had his entire lesson for day all planned out, having spent most of his time yesterday in putting it together as well as going over it a few times.</p><p>Seeing as though he had no class on A days, he a lot of free time on his hands, more than he knew what to do with initially. Aside from his lesson preparation, there was actually quite a bit for him to do, mainly a couple of logistics here and there.</p><p>Siebren spent a bit of time checking and testing all the percussion equipment on offer, finding no problems whatsoever as everything all seemed to be in pretty fair condition. In addition, he also evaluated the state of the school's rental instruments on loan to students, checking the various instruments themselves as well as seeing which students they were rented to.</p><p>He also began the process of trying to memorize the names and faces of his symphonic band members, the provided attendance sheet having their school photos to go along with their full names. The school pictures were immensely helpful in the process, especially after the whole blur that was last class. After testing himself multiple times throughout the day, he believed he could put everyone’s name to the proper face now.</p><p>Aside from those tasks, he also gained access to the school’s music library collection, courtesy of Dr. O’Deorain giving him a key to it and essentially telling him to go crazy with it in her own little way. Surprisingly, that was their only interaction throughout all of yesterday as Siebren hadn’t seen her since. Not that he could blame her or anything. If he was this busy, then surely, she had to be as well. Plus, Siebren was quick in picking up the general gist of Dr. O’Deorain greatly preferring to keep to herself whenever possible.</p><p>It was kind of shame, honestly. He was quite enjoying their little conversation before Dr. Morrison made his appearance the day before yesterday. He also wondered if she viewed him any differently since that…interesting enlightenment from the assistant principal. Siebren was still dead set on forming his own opinion on the woman without much influence from others whenever possible. While it seemed as though Dr. O’Deorain had a bit less favor from those around her, Siebren was sure that they could find common ground somewhere and get along.</p><p>At least he hoped so.</p><p>His first impression of her hadn’t given him enough room to make that final judgement however. Getting to know someone is a lengthy process. If he was somehow forced into giving his general impression of her based off their interactions so far, he could definitely see how others might hold some disdain for her while at the same time recognizing the fact that there's probably a lot more to her story than she initially lets on. Whether or not he would get a chance in the future to learn about it was still up for debate though.</p><p>Perhaps somewhere down the line maybe?</p><p>While Dr. O’Deorain left him to casually sift through all the pieces on offer just to see what was available for him, Siebren was quite impressed with the range of pieces on offer. It seemed as though the school had accumulated quite the collection over the years, perhaps aided by Dr. O’Deorain and the previous band director to some extent. He was able to find something for the sight-reading part of his lesson, being “Abracadabra” by one Frank Ticheli. It was just a simple and fun little magical act inspired piece that managed in making him smile upon giving it a quick listen.</p><p>Just as the title suggests, it did have that magical vibe down to a tee.</p><p>Along with some other parts of his planned lesson, the sight reading would really help him gauge where the band is at currently, in terms of musicality and overall function. In addressing their strengths and weaknesses as an ensemble, he would get a clearer picture as to what areas home in and focus on throughout the school year. Upon seeing the band’s less than stellar district assessment scores from last year, they might have more weaknesses than strengths at the moment, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.</p><p>At the very least, one of his main goals for this school year would be to raise those scores as high as he could with the band. However, he wasn’t too worried as he had plenty of time to work with, seeing as though district assessments wouldn’t take place until early March. While he liked to focus on the present, he would keep the date at the back of his mind for now. But one thing at a time here as he hasn’t even had his first class yet!</p><p>Suddenly realizing that he hadn’t checked the time in a while, even though it had only been a few minutes since he last did, Siebren was in the process of pulling out his phone until, seemingly right on cue, the 1:20 p.m. bell rang throughout the school, catching him off guard. His poor body couldn’t help but jump in place in a spooked response to it. Unfortunately, he was still in the process of getting used to the bell system once again, having not dealt with it in quite some time now. He gave himself about a week, at most, before he'd get used to it.</p><p>Gathering some papers from his piano/desk, Siebren made his way to the conductor’s stand and podium in front of the room, ready to greet his new students! Almost as soon as he placed the papers down onto the stand, the first one to arrive to class had just walked through the doors as he looked up to see who it was. Why, it was none other than the lone clarinetist of the band, Ms. Mei-Ling Zhou as she clutched her clarinet case with both of her hands.</p><p>“Good afternoon, Ms. Mei-Ling!” Siebren excitedly greets her with a warm smile. “How are you doing on this wondrous and most exciting afternoon?”</p><p>“O-Oh…um, good afternoon, um, Dr. de Kuiper!” She nervously recalled his name, confused as to how he knew her name before realizing that he probably had a list of everyone’s name. “I’m doing fine. H-How are you?”</p><p>“Marvelous now that you’re here and ready to learn! Also, thank you for remembering to bring your instrument to class! I know that last class was a bit…er…chaotic, shall we say? I was worried that some students may have forgotten the request I made towards the end of it. But seeing you with your clarinet gives me hope that that wasn’t the case.”</p><p>Mei looked at the two rows of chairs with music stands in front of them, unsure of exactly where she should sit as she asked, “Um, where should I…”</p><p>Already knowing the answer to her question, Siebren gestured towards the last chair on the right hand side of front row, saying, “As our lone clarinetist, you’ll take up residence right here.”</p><p>Wait. What did he say?</p><p>“W-Wait, lone c-clarinetist?” Mei timidly asked. “Y-You mean, I’m the o-only one?”</p><p>“I’m afraid so. As I’m sure you saw last class, the band isn’t very big and as a result, we’re stretched thin in a few places.” He sheepishly admitted. “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle, however! I have faith in each of our fellow band members, including you! There shouldn’t be anything to worry about!”</p><p>“Y-Yeah…”</p><p>Oh dear. If she was the only clarinet in the band, that meant she would <em>actually</em> have to play loud. Back in middle school, Mei usually took the second or third parts when it came to performing pieces. With her anxiety, it made it easier to hide in the lower notes and parts that weren’t as prominently featured like the first or even second parts. As the only clarinet, this meant she would always get the first clarinet part and would, more often than not, <em>need </em>to be heard throughout the band.</p><p>Seems like there would be no more hiding amongst the clarinets anymore…</p><p>After Mei anxiously took her seat, the activity in the band room began to pick up as her fellow classmates were also starting to arrive. Siebren greeted almost everyone as they came in, instructing them to find their seats somewhere in the two rows and to get their instruments and necessary equipment out in order to warm up on their own for a bit. Class would properly start in a few minutes, giving them plenty of time as Siebren just stood there on the conductor’s podium.</p><p>It was around this time that Siebren was starting to feel a bit more in his element. There was just something about the hustle and bustle around the room in combination with the sound of instruments being warmed up and tuned that just felt…so natural to him. He breathed a sigh of content as he took in the wondrous sight. A room full of so many bright and young minds ready and eager to learn, the potential behind it all just made him feel all the more excited for the year ahead. This is exactly the sort of thing he lived for.</p><p>The bell rang out once again, signaling the proper beginning to sixth period as well as the first proper class with his new symphonic band! His voice easily captured their attention as they looked up at him, pausing their warm up routines for the moment.</p><p>“Good afternoon, symphonic band members!” Siebren proudly greeted before clasping his hands together. “It is so great to see you all once again, especially since it looks like just about everyone remembered their instruments and/or equipment for class today. Splendid!”</p><p>From the second row, Jesse shot up his hand and was quickly called on.</p><p>“I think we should get a prize or somethin’ for remeberin’, don’t ya think?” He joked, earning a mixture of laughs and groans across the room.</p><p>One of the people laughing just so happened to be Siebren as he replied shortly after with, “Yes, I agree that there should be a prize of some sort. In fact, for bringing it up, I feel that it’s only fair for you to have a first go at the prize I have on offer.”</p><p>“Wait, you bein’ serious?” Jesse asked, having not expected anything to come of his dumb joke. “There’s…an actual prize?”  </p><p>“Oh, yes. A wonderful prize, indeed.” Siebren innocently smiled, the poor boy completely unaware of trap he just got himself into.</p><p>“Well, alright then! What is this…<em>wonderful </em>prize anyway?” He asked, smugly leaning back in his seat.</p><p>“Simply put, you’ll be the first to introduce yourself to everyone in the class with a little icebreaker.”</p><p>Jesse’s once proud face fell as giggles and snickers could be heard throughout the room. Looking at Siebren’s now innocently smug face, all he could muster up in response was a confused, “W-Wait, what? N-Now hold on a minute here…”</p><p>“What the matter, my friend? Is the prize not to your liking?”</p><p>“Well, no…er…it just…wasn’t the prize I was…expectin’?” Jesse stammered, trying in vain to recover his cool. “I don’t even know where to start?”</p><p>“I suppose I shouldn’t leave you high and dry any much longer.” Siebren laughed to himself along with other students before deciding to take pity on the poor boy. “Let’s keep introductions short and simple for now. Start with your name, first name and last, followed by your class standing. Oh, don’t forget your pronouns as well! Also, be sure to let me and everyone else know if you go by a different name or anything. And finally, to cap it all off, I would like to know what it was, if anything, that lead you to pursue your music career. Basically, why are you still here taking this class? Is it out of passion or love for the subject? I’m always curious as to the reasons why!”</p><p>“Alright, that, uh, sounds easy enough.” He nodded his head along. “Ok, so, my name is Jesse McCree. I’m a sophomore and I guess I use he/him pronouns. You can call me whatever tickles your fancy. Jesse or McCree. It don’t really matter to me. As for what drove me to pursue music? Uh, is, ‘my mom forcin’ me to do it’ a good answer or…?”</p><p>“It’s a good enough answer for me.” Siebren smiled in between giggles from the peanut gallery that was the band. “See, that wasn’t so hard? Was it? Now, who would like to go next? Anyone? Anyone at all?”</p><p>Everyone looked around at each other, hoping someone would speak up and just go for it but alas, no one did.</p><p>“Oh, come now. No one at all? Don’t be afraid. It’s only a simple icebreaker and the water is plenty fine, really!”</p><p>Although Siebren’s comment earned a stifled giggle here and there, nobody stepped up to the plate. Unfortunately, his hand would have to be forced if they were going to make it through the icy waters ahead.</p><p>“Well, I suppose we’re doing things the hard way then, but that’s alright with me!” He smiled, pulling out his attendance sheet and deciding to start from the top and work his way down the list. “Let’s see here…ah! Looks like our other trumpet player will be introducing herself! Ms. Amari, the stage is all yours!”</p><p>Everyone’s eyes fell on a suddenly nervous Fareeha as she took a deep breath before just going for it. The faster she got it over with, the sooner the spotlight wouldn’t be on her.</p><p>“Ok, uh, hi! I’m Fareeha Amari. I’m a sophomore as well and I use she/her and they/them pronouns. I don’t go by anything else. As for what drove me to pursue music? Honestly? Just listening to a bunch of jazz and blues with my father when I was younger and wanting to be like one of them.”</p><p>“That’s quite lovely to hear. Is there a particular artist or group that caught your ear?” Siebren asked, always interested to hear more.</p><p>“Um, probably like, Miles Davis.” Fareeha said after thinking on it for a second. “Hence why I play the trumpet, I guess.”</p><p>“Splendid! Glad to have you here, Fareeha. I might add, your mother has been quite helpful in seeing my transition back into school. She always speaks highly of you and I look forward to teaching you this year! Now, who will be the next victim…ah, I see! Our alto saxophonist, Ms. Colomar-Reyes! You’re up!”</p><p>Olivia, of course, lets out groan as she stands up to introduce herself to the class.</p><p>“Fine, whatever. Let’s see. Olivia Colomar-Reyes. Sophomore. She/her or they/them, I don’t really care. And I don’t have a reason. I just do as I please.” She quickly goes through the list, marking them off with her fingers.</p><p>“Whoa, slow down. This isn’t a race! Unless it is, and if that’s the case, I’m afraid the rest of you have to pick up the pace in order to keep up with Olivia.” Siebren jokes, earning a fit of laughter from the class. “But seriously, please take your time with this. First impressions aren’t always everything, but it can go a long way. Also, I find it hard to believe you don’t have a reason, Ms. Olivia. Everyone has a reason for being here in this class.”</p><p>She rolls her eyes at this as she debated with herself for a moment, ultimately deciding to just come clean as she let out an annoyed sigh.</p><p>“Alright, fine. You got me.” Olivia says before her voice goes a bit lower in volume. “My dad…used to play saxophone as well and maybe…I just wanted to be like him. Is that reason good enough?”</p><p>“Any specific reason is enough.” Siebren reassures her with a smile. “But I do appreciate you sharing that with the class. I’ll get out of your hair now but thank you for having the courage to share that.”</p><p>“Yeah, whatever…” She says under her breath, feeling a bit weird as she wasn’t one to get all personal like that. But she knew it would satisfy her teacher and leave no room for questions.</p><p>“Next up we have…ah, yes, the aspiring percussionist, Mr. Correia dos Santos! Take it away, my friend!” He exclaims as he points to the back of the room.</p><p>“I got you, boss man!” Lúcio says, sending it back his way with some finger guns added in for good measure. “Yo, I’m Lúcio Correia dos Santos. Sophomore. He/him pronouns is the beat we’re currently rolling with. And I mean, what is there to say? I just love music, man! Practically came out of the womb with drumsticks in hand!”</p><p>The imagery of a newborn baby Lúcio with drumsticks already in hand lends itself to some good laughter across the room as even Siebren can’t help himself from a giggle.</p><p>“I can only imagine you keeping your poor mother up at night. Not with your crying, no, but with your practicing! We should have a great year ahead of us with someone as driven as you as one of our percussionists. Speaking of, might as well get our other percussionist while we’re back there. Mr. Fawkes, don’t let me stop you.”</p><p>“Alrighty then.” Jamie says as he cracks his knuckles. “Jamison Fawkes at your service. Sophomore, of course. Pronouns? Whatever! And, to be quite honest with you, I just love making noise! Oh, and you can just call me Jamie!”</p><p>Before Siebren can get his words out, Hana from the front row beats him to it as she informs him with a laugh, “Everyone just calls him ‘the Rat’.”</p><p>This, of course, sparks another round of laughter throughout the room as Jamie looks on in annoyance. He wasn’t a fan of the nickname that others used to describe him as he carried a strong dislike for it. Although, in comparison, he carried an even <em>stronger</em> dislike for the one who “deemed him so” in the first place, ever since last year. But that’s a story for a different time.</p><p>“Well, if you all don’t mind, I’ll be referring to him as Jamie.” Siebren says before turning his attention on the boy once again. “I assure you that we will be making plenty of <em>noise </em>throughout this school year. Plenty of noise indeed.”</p><p>Jamie seemed content with that as he bore a huge grin across his face, excited at the very prospect.</p><p>“Next up on the chopping block will be…our French hornist, Ms. Lindholm! And before you ask, Ms. Lindholm, I politely have to decline your request to see pictures my cat. We still have several more introductions to go through and that isn’t including the lesson I have planned for today.”</p><p>“Aww, how did you even know I was going to ask that?” Brigitte asked, giving him a defeated look in return.</p><p>“A magician never reveals his tricks, Ms. Lindholm.” He joked, earning another round of laughter around the classroom. “But on a lighter note, there should be plenty of time after class for me to show you pictures of him. Sound like a good deal?”</p><p>“Deal!” She excitedly agreed before standing up in her seat. “Anyways, my name is Brigitte Lindholm and I’m a sophomore. I use she/her pronouns, and this is going to sound embarrassing but the only reason I chose the French horn is because I thought it looked pretty cool. From there I guess I just sort of stuck with it and here we are.”</p><p>Siebren got a good chuckle out of that reason as he remarked, “I suppose it does look ‘pretty cool’. Not my first choice but I could see why. Thank you for sharing that.”</p><p>“Of course! Don’t go forgetting our deal though!” Brigitte playfully warned as she sat down. “I <em>will </em>be here after class to see your cat. You cannot stop me.”</p><p>“She is an unstoppable force when it comes to anything involving cats.” Hana commented from the front row. “Like, you have no idea.”</p><p>“Oh, I think I get the general idea, Ms. Song. In fact, I may or may not be fearing for my life in this current moment.” Siebren laughed. “I say we should move on to the next introduction before she gets any ideas. Our tenor saxophonist, Ms. Oxton should provide us with a proper distraction in the form of her introduction!”</p><p>“I can do that, yeah!” Lena beamed. “Hiya. I’m Lena Oxton. I’m also a sophomore and I use she/her and they/them pronouns! I’m not sure why I took up music. I just kinda did? Sort of like why not, y’know? It seemed like fun and has been so far.”</p><p>“And that’s the most important part, in my humble opinion. Having fun, that is.” Siebren humbly agreed. “It is my hope to create a fun little space for all of us here because, in all honesty, music is just about having fun! And if you have trouble seeing the fun in it, fret not as I will do everything in my power to show you how by the end of the year, at the very least. Do not hesitate in letting me know if there is anything at all that I can do to better create that space for us.”</p><p>Fun? In symphonic band class? After Dr. O’Deorain took over last semester, symphonic band was a place where fun went to die. It was unheard of, forbidden by the strict red head and her style of teaching. To hear Dr. de Kuiper’s approach to the subject was truly a breath of fresh air for them.  </p><p>“Simply put, music is my passion and I want to share this musical passion with all of you. To show you how to truly appreciate it for everything it is worth and trust me, it’s worth is <em>a lot</em>. From there, you can decide what you want to do with that appreciation, whether that be further pursuing a career in music or even picking up a new instrument. Or, you don’t have to do anything with it, that’s completely fine. We all have different walks of life and music may not necessarily be involved in your path down the line. But for the time being, we can just have fun and make the most of the moment throughout this year together.”</p><p>Upon letting his words sit in the air for a moment, the class soon erupted into enthusiastic cheer. It was certainly what they needed to hear after dealing with Dr. O’Deorain for an entire semester. Some were actually starting to feel a lot better about the year ahead with Siebren’s words opening up that possibility for them.</p><p>“Now, back to our introductions.” Siebren smiled as soon as the cheer died down. “Sticking with the low brass, next up will be our mighty tuba player, Mr. Rutledge! You’re up, my friend!”</p><p>Mako gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before clearing his throat.</p><p>“Mako Rutledge. Junior. He/him pronouns. And my middle school teacher needed a tuba player, so I switched off euphonium.”</p><p>“A simple enough reason.” Siebren nodded back. “I can tell that you’re a person of few words. Is my assumption correct?”</p><p>Mako confirmed that correctly assumed information with another collected nod.</p><p>“Understandable, I can respect that. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s just a pleasure to have a tuba player here. For how small we are, we definitely need all the bass we can get. But let’s worry about that later and move on to Mr. Shimada and his introduction as our oboist!”</p><p>“Yo.” Genji greeted with curt and informal salute. “Genji Shimada. Sophomore. I use he/him pronouns. I am not really sure what drove me to do music. I mean, I know I didn’t want to be in orchestra with my older brother because I knew we would just fight over who was better. So I went with band in order to avoid that.”</p><p>“That’s pretty fair, I suppose. Is your brother a member of Dr. O’Deorain’s chamber orchestra?”</p><p>“Yeah, he is. He plays double bass.”</p><p>“Intriguing.” Siebren casually said, still curious about one more thing. “Now, see if you can answer this question for me, Mr. Shimada. Between you and him, which of you is the better brother?”</p><p>Genji let out a snort of laughter before leaning back in his chair, pointing to himself as he replied, “Obviously, me.”</p><p>“Glad to know my initial assumption was correct then! I can now sleep well at night knowing I have the better Shimada brother in my ensemble. Take that, Dr. O’Deorain! Having you here further proves the obvious fact that band <em>clearly </em>is better than orchestra!” He joked around, mostly in good fun. “Oh, but please don’t tell her I said that though! I would prefer to remain on her good side! Instead, let’s just move on to Ms. Song’s introduction as our flutist!”</p><p>“Ok, so, let’s see…” Hana said, trying to remember what all she needed to answer. “My name is Hana Song. I’m a sophomore. I use she/her pronouns. They/them pronouns are fine, I guess? I dunno. My reason for doing music is honestly kind of embarrassing though…”</p><p>“If me and the rest of the class promise not to laugh, will you tell us? Or would you rather not share?”</p><p>“No…no, I can share it. It’s not <em>that </em>embarrassing.” Hana admitted. “But promise me you won’t?”</p><p>“I think we can all agree to those terms, right?” Siebren asked as he looked around the classroom, getting nothing but nods in confirmation. “Alright then. You have our promise not to laugh.”</p><p>“Ok seriously, don’t laugh but…I started doing music so I could get closer to my crush at the time…”</p><p>“I see.” He inquisitively nodded. “Did it work?”</p><p>“W-What?” Hana stammered, not expecting that response.</p><p>“Did it work?” Siebren asked again with a smile on his face. “Did you successfully woo your crush with your musical talent? I’m genuinely curious!”</p><p>“Well, I mean…seeing as though she’s my girlfriend now,” She said, looking back at her partner, Brigitte, in the second row with a warm smile. “I’d have to say yes. Yes, it definitely worked.”</p><p>“Oh? Are you and Ms. Lindholm really together?” He asked, a surprised look across his face.</p><p>“Yeah…” Hana said, unsure of how to read his surprise. “That’s…that’s not a problem with you, is it?”</p><p>“Of course not.” Siebren simply stated with a genuine smile, watching as Hana’s shoulders relaxed. “The thought of it even being a problem has never once crossed my mind. I was genuinely surprised as I just didn’t put two and two together. I apologize if my initial reaction made you worry. I was just processing how honestly cute it was. Far from embarrassing, in my opinion. I think endearing is a better word.”</p><p>“W-Wait, you’re like, <em>actually </em>ok with it?”</p><p>“Oh yes. Very much so. Supportive even.” He nodded. “Just so we’re all on the same page, this class is a safe space for any individuals who fall under the LGBT+ umbrella. I will not tolerate hate of any kind in and around this classroom. There is absolutely no place for that here, or anywhere, for that matter. It is not a matter of politics. That is just how life is. If I’m being quite honest, I do not want you here if you lack the decency to treat others as they are, as human beings.”</p><p>Siebren’s words, unsurprisingly, earned a round of applause and cheers throughout the classroom. He may be old, but he was certainly with the times! Having worked with plenty of queer students and colleagues alike, he always tried to keep the space around him free of hate and ignorance. There just wasn’t a hateful bone to found in his body anywhere in his body, the very idea of it being completely foreign to him. </p><p>“I have a few final thoughts on the topic before we continue on with our introductions. Firstly, you should never feel shame for whoever you love or however you identify in terms of gender. Second, if you are in need of someone to talk to about anything at all, I can do my best to be there for you all. I’ve been told that I’m quite the good listener. And finally, as the kids say, trans rights!”</p><p>Those last words especially earned an even greater cheer compared to one before. It was uncommon for a high school teacher to really ever express their personal views. But in this case, it was certainly more than welcome seeing as though most individuals in the class happened to fall under that umbrella.</p><p>“Now, let’s finish up our introductions so we can finally get a chance to play this afternoon.” Siebren said, looking through his attendance sheet to find the next person. “Next up will be…Ms. Zaryanova as our wonderful trombonist!”</p><p>“Greetings!” Zarya waved. “My name is Aleksandra Zaryanova but I prefer to be called Zarya. I use she and they pronouns. I am a junior. My reason for doing music is honestly because I heard that the end of the year band trips are always so much fun! I just had to see it for myself!”</p><p>Siebren got a good chuckle out of that reason, admitting, “Yes, that does tend to be the case. Although I’m not exactly sure where we will be going at the end of the school year. I suppose I should inquire about it with Dr. O’Deorain. Where did you all go last school year?”</p><p>“We…actually didn’t go anywhere last year.” Lena truthfully admitted.</p><p>Giving a perplexed look, Siebren inquire as to why with, “Wait, really? Why not?”</p><p>Those who were in attendance last school year looked around at each other, trying to figure out who would be the one to tell him. Eventually though, Hana spoke up from the front.</p><p>“Um…” She stammered, trying to find the right words. “Dr. O’Deorain actually cancelled the entire trip for both band and orchestra. She didn’t tell us exactly why, but…we kind of figured it was because of our performance at district assessments last year. She…wasn’t very happy with it.”</p><p>“I see…” Siebren said, hand over his mouth as he processed that lovely information.</p><p>Did Dr. O’Deorain really cancel the trip over a single poor performance? If so, was it truly bad enough to warrant such a decision? Or was there another reason, perhaps? He couldn’t come up with a hypothetical reason as to why. The only way to get clarity would be to ask the red head herself. But there was nothing he could do about it in the moment as he would worry about it and ask her later on. Again, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions with so little information.</p><p>“Well, I don’t think that should be the case this year. I didn’t look too much into the district assessment from last year. But, it’s my goal to improve our score anywhere we can, no matter how small. Again, we’ll worry more about that when the time arrives. Whatever score we get will not influence whether we go on the trip or not.” Siebren assured. “For now, we have one last introduction before we play. Last but certainly not least by any means, will be our lone clarinetist, Ms. Zhou!”    </p><p>“O-Oh, um, ok…” Mei practically jumped in her seat, having dreaded her turn in all of this. It certainly didn’t help her nerves knowing that she would be last. “Um, my name is…Mei-Ling Zhou. B-But you can just call me Mei. I’m a…freshman and I u-use she/her pronouns. And my reason for doing music is…b-because I, um, wanted to have…um, friends.”</p><p>“I can think of no better place to make friends, to be quite honest.” Siebren admitted. “You definitely had the right idea as band kids are quite the interesting cards. Personally, I like to think of each band I teach as a little sort of family, almost. A group of individuals brought together under one roof with the common interest being music. Sounds enough like a family. To me, at least. I’m sure you should make plenty of friends here, though!”</p><p>“I…uh, already have…”</p><p>“Splendid! Here’s hoping you gain many more.” He said, giving her a smile in return. “And with that, our introductions are finally done! I must say, we have all sorts of interesting individuals here in this room. I’m excited to see where we can go with all of this potential! Now, let’s get warmed up again with a concert B flat major scale. Something nice and simple before we move onto more exciting things!”</p><p>Siebren gave them a second to get their instruments in hand as well as the percussionists to find a place behind the vibraphone and marimba, respectively.</p><p>“On my count, if you will.” He said with a raise of his right hand. “1…2…ready…and!”</p><p>With that simple gesture, Siebren was finally able to hear his new band in action as they climbed up and down the concert B flat major scale with ease. They sounded about what he expected of a high school concert band of this size. A few were out of tune and somebody even missed a note or two of the basic scale. But in all honesty, he didn’t really care. He was just happy to hear them play, if anything. He was just happy to be <em>here</em>, properly coming back to teaching full time once more.</p><p>“Excellent!” Siebren complimented with the conclusion of the simple warm up. “Now, what do you say we have a bit of fun with a little game?”</p><p>“A game?” Brigitte asked?</p><p>“What kinda game?” McCree inquired with a cautious look, rightfully suspicious because of his “prize” from earlier.</p><p>“Yes, it’s a simple little exercise I like to play with all of my bands.” He said, walking up to the whiteboard and uncapping a dry erase marker. “Tell me with a raise of hands, how many of you are familiar with the Circle of Fifths?”</p><p>Out of all the individuals in class, only two students, Lúcio and Mako, raised their hands while the rest gave him a mixture of confused looks.</p><p>“Only two? Huh, well then. Our game should be fairly interesting then…” Siebren laughed to himself as he drew a big circle on the board. “Without going into too much detail for right now, the Circle of Fifths is the relationship between the twelve tones of the chromatic scale. With our circle here, each major and minor key signature will take up a space around the circle like numbers on a clock. But for now, we’re only going to worry about the major keys.”</p><p>Starting with C major at the twelve o’clock position and going around the circle clockwise, Siebren added each major key as he went around his drawn circle. Once complete, he pointed to the B flat, at the ten o’ clock position, with his marker.</p><p>“For our warmup a few seconds ago, we played a B flat major scale which has two flats in the key signature, B and E respectively. Moving clockwise to the eleven o’ clock position is where we will find F major which only has one flat in comparison. The reason we call it the circle of fifths is because in moving from B flat major to F major, we take five interval steps. B flat to C to D to E and, finally, to F. As we move in the clockwise direction, you’ll start to notice the pattern where each major key signature is a fifth up from the previous major key. Note that this only occurs in the clockwise direction and not the counterclockwise direction.”</p><p>“So, what does this have to do with our game?” Lena curiously asked aloud.</p><p>“I’m glad you asked, Lena! For our game, we will be going around the circle of fifths together as a class, playing each major scale associated with the major keys. So, we will start off with another B flat major scale before moving to an F major scale and then to a C major scale and so on and so forth until we circle all the way back to B flat.” Siebren explained, pointing to the various positions as he went along.</p><p>“The game is to see who can play each and every major scale on the circle of fifths without making a single mistake along the way. We will be standing up while we play and if you happen to miss a note or make a mistake, you will be eliminated from the game and have to sit down. However, if you’ve been eliminated, you will still be playing along even while seated. I like to call it ‘scale survivor’ as you try to ‘survive’, in a sense, all the way around the circle of fifths.”</p><p>Zarya shot up a hand before being called on, bringing up a good question with, “So…do we actually win anything or…?”</p><p>“Yes, actually!” Siebren nodded along. “As we go on, we will keep a tally of overall wins per person on the whiteboard. At the end of the quarter, the top three students with the most tally marks will earn a wondrous prize from yours truly!”</p><p>“Is the prize something boring like extra credit or something?” Hana asked.</p><p>Oops. He didn’t expect a correct guess on the first try as he pursed his lips together, drawling out a, “…maybe? Although, I’m open to ideas for prizes. As long as they’re small or inexpensive, of course.”</p><p>“What if we, uh, don’t know any major scales?” Jesse brought up. “Besides B flat, of course?”</p><p>“By this point in your high school music career, you all should be more than familiar with all the major scales.” Siebren simply stated. “If that is not the case, then I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with them, preferably during your own practice time at home. Seeing as though scale survivor will apart of our warm up routine, it is my hope and assumption that you will do so if you haven’t already. Do what you please with that information. Personally, I would like to see everyone on the board with at least one tally mark by the end of this first quarter. Any more questions?”</p><p>Looking around the room, there didn’t appear to be any as Siebren nodded his head, motioning them to stand up with, “Alright then. If you will, please rise for our first official game of scale survivor! You can sit down and play Mako. I don’t expect you to stand with that beast of an instrument! You can just let me know if you survived when I get a tally of things at the end.”</p><p>Once everybody, save for Mako, was standing up with instruments at the ready, Siebren looked on with giddy smile across his face.</p><p>“One quick thing before we start. We will take four counts of rest in between each scale.” He quickly mentioned, his right hand in the air itching to conduct. “Otherwise, good luck and let the games begin with one-two-ready-and!”</p><p>Thankfully, everyone made it through the B flat major scale without any trouble at all. However, it was with the F major scale that followed four counts after where most of the band immediately lost as wrong notes galore blared throughout the room. By the end of the scale, everyone who took up residence in the two rows of chairs were already seated. The C major scale didn’t go any better as it was becoming evidently clear that most individuals symphonic band weren’t at all familiar with their major scales.</p><p>After the painful trudge through the rest of the nine scales, all eyes were on Siebren whose smile hadn’t faltered even once throughout the entire process. Some weren’t sure what to make of his reaction, or lack thereof. Was Dr. de Kuiper upset with them for their poor performance?</p><p>“Looks like some of you have a bit of practicing to do when it comes to your major scales!” He just laughed to himself, his laughter relieving a lot of the sudden worry throughout the room. “That’s quite alright. We’re all here to learn. Despite the rough performance, did any of you happen to make it through unscathed?”</p><p>Surprisingly, two hands raised amongst them, one from Lúcio behind the vibraphone in the back of the room and the other from Mako in the second row. Even more surprising was the fact that they were telling the truth! In between the symphonic mess a few moments ago, Siebren’s precise and well trained ears were able to pick up both the boys’ successful first attempt at scale survivor. So, it wasn’t all bad in Siebren’s eyes!</p><p>“Excellent! We have two names to add to the board!” Siebren praised, taking the dry erase marker and making a tally mark chart on the right hand side of the whiteboard before adding the two names. “Don’t worry, you all still have plenty of opportunities to get your name on the board! I have a feeling that we’ll get a few more at the beginning of our next class. Remember we want everyone on the board by the end of the first quarter! If you need help with your scales, you know where to find me!”</p><p>With introductions and warm ups out the way, now they could get into the real meat of today’s class with their first official piece of music.</p><p>“As I’m sure you’ve no doubt seen, in front of you on your stands are your music folders for this semester. Inside you will find a piece entitled “Abracadabra” by Frank Ticheli. If you would be so kind as to pull it out, just look through it for right now without actually playing anything.” Siebren instructed, taking out his phone to set a timer. “Take about five minutes or so as you noodle through it. Once that time is up, I would just like to see how far we can get in the piece. This simple sight reading is more for me to gauge where we’re at as a whole ensemble. So, go ahead and do what you would normally do when sight reading.”  </p><p>Letting them loose and leaving them to their own devices for a bit, Siebren stood back with a smile on his face. Simply put, he quite excited for the year ahead with his new symphonic band. In his eyes, they could only go up from here as he could practically see the potential glowing off each of his new students. He had to admit, the class was full of all sorts of interesting characters that were already starting to grow on his old heart.</p><p>If he was being quite honest, he missed this. The pleasant and familiar feelings were just further cementing the fact that he ultimately made the right choice in coming back to teaching. With every second that passes, Siebren felt more and more alive in comparison to his premature retirement counterpart. Mainly because he actually had a right and proper purpose that could get him out of the bed in the morning.</p><p>Breathing out a sigh of content, Siebren was glad to be back in his element.</p><p>The timer going off on his phone did catch him off guard, getting a few small giggles here and there from those who happened to witness it. Sure enough as he went to turn it off, the five minutes were up as he placed his phone off to the side.</p><p>“Well, you heard the timer and I’m sure you all know what that means!” He excitedly said, flipping through his director’s score of the piece. “Let’s just take this nice and easy, just a little under the tempo for right now. Sound good?”</p><p>He got confirmation in the form of enthusiastic nods and a few just as excited, “Yeah!”</p><p>“Superb! Instruments at the ready if you would be so kind in doing so and on my count! Ready? One…two…one, two, ready and!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm pretty sure I have mostly everybody in the story as unashamedly queer for the most part with a whole bunch of identities being represented across the entire cast. Of course this includes both Moira and Siebren who you'll eventually learn more about down the line. Oh yeah, just because Moira is going to be with a man in this story doesn't make her any less queer. Everyone has different interpretations of these wonderful characters. I don't have to like your interpretation and you don't have to like mine but I can respect and understand why you interpret the character the way you do. </p><p>That's my argument against the SigMoira hate lol. Honestly, just let people be. We're all here to have fun with the wonderful characters we've been graced with. I legitimately love seeing all the different ways people interpret the characters. It's amazing how I can see one thing in a character and you can see something completely different. That's awesome! At the same time, you don't have to like whatever interpretation but at the very least I feel like you should just respect others views and interpretations. But hey, that's just my two cents. </p><p>Also, I had to do some fuckin' music theory for a solid hour in order to relay the correct information. I really hope I did like fuck me did that take way longer than it should've. </p><p>Until next time and stay safe.</p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Welcome to the Family Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Emily, Lena and Amélie are trying to enjoy some afternoon quality time together, only for chaos to ensue when a dog and popcorn are thrown into the mix. </p><p>Dr. Morrison inquires how Hana's band class is going, somehow finding himself recalling some unpleasant memories about a certain orchestra director.</p><p>Fareeha can't help herself from getting flustered every time her girlfriend kisses her on the lips, even though they've done it countless times now</p><p>And finally, Siebren comes home to the ever present feeling of loneliness, reflecting on some things with a furry friend at his side...er...rather, on his shoulder.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh, hello. A month didn't go by this time. Wild. </p><p>Here's another chapter, my favorite to write so far actually. There's a whole lot of world building and lore in this one. I hope you enjoy!  </p><p>I'm doing ok, I suppose. Can't complain. Not much to say so on with our story!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No, Oscar, you can't have any of this! It's ours!” Emily sternly stated, doing her best to shoo the black and rust Doberman pinscher away so he would stop bothering her and her girlfriends attempt at some after school quality time together. “Sorry, what were you saying about your class, Lena? Hey! No!”</p><p>Watching from her side on the living room couch, Lena and Amélie watched their girlfriend lift the bowl of popcorn she had prepared for them above her head and out of the dog's reach. When that didn’t work, Oscar elected to giving the girls such a sad and needy pout in a last ditch effort to get what he wanted. While both of her girlfriends could be easily swayed by the act, Emily saw it as just that as she stood her ground, having put up with the dog for a good chunk of her life now.</p><p>Eventually, Oscar took the hint as he went to lay down in the space behind the coffee table and in front of the TV and it’s stand, head hung low in defeat. He might’ve lost the battle, but the war was far from over as he played the sympathy card with a pathetically sad face.  </p><p>“That might work on <em>aintín</em>, but I always see through your little act! Nice try!” Emily teased, sticking out her tongue just to further rub salt in the wound.</p><p>“Aww, but he looks so sad.” Lena said from in between her girlfriends, having easily fell for the dog’s ruse. “Maybe we should give him a piece or two? Or three?”</p><p>“I don’t think dogs can eat popcorn?” The red head said, giving her a smaller girlfriend a quizzical look.</p><p>“They can!” She quickly replied, taking a comically large handful of popcorn in the process. “I give some to my dog every now and again and he’s just fine.”</p><p>“Are you sure that’s safe?”</p><p>“It is, apparently.” Amélie spoke up, currently reading about it on her phone as she helps herself to a few pieces. “In small portions, of course.”</p><p>“Huh, you learn something new every day.” Emily shrugged, finally taking some for herself. “Anyway, what was this <em>exciting </em>part about class you wanted to tell us about, Lena?”</p><p>“Oh, that’s right!” She perked up, doing her best to quickly swallow her popcorn without choking. “Dr. de Kuiper said he supports trans rights! Right after he said his classroom is a safe space for any and all queer people!”</p><p>“Did he really?” Amélie asked, surprise clear as day on her face as the smaller girlfriend replied with a cute, “Ye!”</p><p>“How did that come about?” Emily asked, just as surprised. “Did something prompt it or…?”</p><p>“Hana was tellin’ em’ about how she only did band because she wanted to ask out Brigitte and told em’ that they were dating, and he thought it cute and just told us! Said his classroom was no place for hate an’ everythin’.”</p><p>“Wait, is that really how they got together?” Amélie asked, earning a nod from Lena. “That <em>is </em>pretty cute. I didn’t know that.”</p><p>“Yeah, I thought you knew.” Emily laughed, before coming back to the topic at hand. “So did you tell him how you have <em>two </em><em>girlfriends </em>as well as the fact that you’re trans?”</p><p>“Nope!” Lena shook her head. “Although I might! You know, just to see his reaction!”</p><p>“Yeah, you’ll have to let us know wh-HEY!” Emily stopped mid-sentence to find Oscar with his head in their bowl of popcorn. “No! Stop it, Oscar! Why can’t you just leave us alone!?”</p><p>It seems that in the middle of their conversation, the dog must’ve found his way back to the bowl as Emily fought to tear it away from him.</p><p>“You know, we wouldn’t have to deal with this if we could just go in your room and close the door. Just saying.” Amélie sighed.</p><p>“<em>Ugh</em>, we’ve been over this <em>before</em>.” Emily grunted, her attempt to wrestle the bowl of popcorn away from the dog without making too much of a mess looking more and more vain by the second. “You know <em>aintín</em> would never let that happen. Not unless I “contribute to the rent” or whatever. And we all know that isn’t happening anytime soon.”</p><p>“Yes, we know.” Amélie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “You tell us <em>all </em>the time.”</p><p>“Then why do you keep bringing it up?” She asked, finally successful in getting the bowl away from Oscar as she raised it above her head once more, only for the dog chase after it as he stepped up on her. “Ow! Hey!”</p><p>“Because I like complaining about it.” Amelie simply stated.</p><p>Moira forbade the poly couple from occupying a space behind closed doors while in the apartment for obvious reasons, knowing exactly what teenagers could get up to when they were alone. Since she was the one who paid rent, it meant she could also make the rules is what she always told Emily. Should the younger O’Deorain, firstly, obtain a job and, secondly, contribute some of her money to the rent then Moira was more than willing to ease up on the rule entirely. But as it stood right now, that wasn’t the case as Emily currently didn’t have a job and elected to keep her funds from her summer job to herself. Not that Moira really cared. As far as she was concern, it was her niece’s money, and she could do whatever she wanted with it since she earned it.</p><p>But the tempting offer always remained, nonetheless.</p><p>Surprisingly, for someone as seemingly strict as her, that was really the only rule Moira had for them. Well, aside from the standard rules any house guest had to follow of keeping the space clean and being mindful of the other tenants in the building, that is. For the most part, as long as it didn’t annoy her too much, she didn’t really care what the polycule got up to. Moira fully understood that this wasn’t a school environment and was a bit more lax in letting the teenagers be just that.</p><p>Still, she always remained her ever stoic self to a degree whenever Lena and Amélie were around, reserving her more casual side for when it was just her, Emily and Oscar, of course.</p><p>Finally fed up with Oscar and his affinity for their afternoon snack, Emily called out to her aunt in the other room with an annoyed, “<em>Aintín</em>! Can you <em>please</em> call Oscar so he can go away and stop trying to eat our snacks?”</p><p>“Oscar!” Her voice called from the other room, the dog's ears immediately perking up as he heard his name on the tongue of his mother. “<em>Tar chugam</em>!”</p><p>As soon as he heard that order, Oscar ceased his attempt on their afternoon snack as he quickly went to her location.</p><p>“Finally.” Emily sighed, worn out by this point. “Maybe we can finally watch our movie in peace. Thank you, <em>aintín</em>!”</p><p>Meanwhile at the kitchen table, Moira was currently preoccupied with two things in the current moment. Aside from working on her lesson plans for the next week in advance, she was also giving Oscar the attention and love he deserved as she playfully rubbed his head.</p><p>“Were they being mean to mommy’s good boy? Oh no, you poor thing.” She softly cooed (keeping her voice just quiet enough so that the polycule couldn’t hear her) as the gentle head rubs quickly transformed into loving belly rubs with the dog sprawling out on his back for her. “Oh, yes, that’s mommy’s good boy! That’s mommy’s <em>very </em>good boy! And good boys get treats!”</p><p>With one hand continuing to shower her dog in endless affection, her other hand rummaged through the conveniently placed dog treat bag at the center of the table, doing her best to find the biggest treat through feeling alone. It was the best place to put it, especially since she taught Oscar that he wasn’t allowed on the table. Of course, the dog followed her rules perfectly. Certainly more than <em>most </em>people she interacted with on a daily basis, hence why she treated the dog as if he was her own child. Which, to be fair, he technically was.</p><p>Satisfied with the treat she found, Moira wasted no time in giving it to Oscar who eagerly accepted it without a second thought. As he was content to chew on it, it left him distracted enough so that she could continue working. Well, that and listening to the always interesting conversations between her niece and her girlfriends. How could she <em>not</em> listen them with how loud they were at times? Not that she really cared, mind you.</p><p>As long as she got no noise complaints from her neighbors, she didn’t really care. Plus, it was kind of her secret hobby, just listening in the conversations. It made for decent white noise whenever she had work to do at home. Like a podcast or something and today’s topic was certainly interesting.</p><p>Dr. de Kuiper supporting trans rights? Quite interesting, to say the very least. But that’s all she could say on that for now. She really just wants to finish up these lesson plans so she can begin preparing dinner for herself and Emily. They would be having chicken with dumplings and she wanted to make sure she had enough time to do so. So, we'll leave her to it.</p><p>= = =</p><p>Breathing a satisfied sigh of relief, Dr. Morrison shut down his school desktop computer before pushing his chair back and standing up to get a good stretch in. For the past hour after school had let out, he had the wonderful luxury of following up on the few behavioral incidents from earlier on the day. He supposed it was only a matter of time before he had to stay after school this year due to work surrounding it, but he certainly didn’t expect it to be on the third day of school of all things. Maybe he put too much faith into the students of Athena High to not cause too much trouble this week?</p><p>As one of the assistant principals, he elected himself to focus more on behavioral problems compared to Dr. Reyes who focused more on staff management and similar areas. Not that the two them didn’t do either or but he just preferred it the current way.</p><p>Not to say anything bad about Reyes and his style of being an assistant principal, he could never say anything bad about the man he called his best friend, but Reyes could be a bit more…lenient compared to him whenever it came to behavioral issues. Again, there wasn’t anything wrong with that, but Dr. Morrison found he had a lot fewer repeat offenders with his way of doing things around here. He was a natural when it came time to being stern and honest with said individuals, just letting them know what wasn’t going to fly with him.</p><p>That being said, it all sort of came with the job that he still had a lot love for. It <em>is </em>what he signed up for.</p><p>“I see that you’re stretching. That means we’re ready to go home?” Hana asks from a table in front left hand corner of his office, pre occupied with one of her many gaming devices after getting her homework done earlier in the afternoon.</p><p>“Yep, we’re pretty much done here.” He says with a grunt, stretching out his lower back. “What? Are you saying that’s my telltale sign that I’m done for the day?”</p><p>“Actually, yeah, you always do it.” She says a matter-of-factly.</p><p>“What? No, I don’t.” He laughs, gathering his stuff together into his briefcase.</p><p>“Uh, <em>yeah you do</em>. In fact, you always make this one face whenever you do.” Hana retorts, doing her best impression of him with an overexaggerated and silly face.</p><p>“Oh, come on, I don’t look <em>that </em>bad when I do it. Plus, I’d say it’s more like this.” He says, returning an even more exaggerated and quite hilarious imitation of her already silly impression.</p><p>“Actually, yeah, you’re right!” She laughs a loud. “Mine wasn’t as stupid as yours!”</p><p>“Oh, you hush.” Dr. Morrison playfully waves her off as they begin to exit the office.</p><p>On their out into the main office, mostly everyone has gone home for the day including Dr. Amari and Dr. Reyes. But there are a few stragglers here and there, the only notable one being Ms. Sojourn who was just finishing up her attendance records for the day as she quickly noticed the two.</p><p>“You two about to head out, Jack?” She asks, looking up from her screen. “I figured you were already out of here like the others, but I guess I was wrong.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, I had a couple of phone calls to make after that one fight during second lunch. So, you know, that was just <em>lovely</em>.”</p><p>“Oo, yeah, I heard about that.” She cringes, multitasking the conversation and the rest of her work. “Heard it got <em>pretty </em>vicious. What was it even over? I know it was two boys, right?”</p><p>“Oh, you know. They were just fighting over some girl who, turns out, is actually gay and had no idea either of them were even remotely interested in her.” Dr. Morrison laughs at the very premise. “If anything, it was worth it to see the look on their faces when I found <em>that</em> out.”</p><p>“Oof, tough luck.” Ms. Sojourn laughed. “Who knows? Maybe those two’ll find common ground and get together or something. Weirder love stories have happened.”</p><p>“Yeah, but I’d rather they not go near each other right now, seeing as though I told them not to.” He simply sighed. “They were still at each others throats when it was all said and done.”</p><p>“Cute.” She commented, shaking her head. “Anyway, I gotta finish this record up real quick so I can follow your lead and get the heck outta here.”</p><p>“Yeah, you do that.” Dr. Morrison waves her off as he steps outside the main office with Hana. “Don’t work yourself to death. You’re the only thing keeping this place from falling apart.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She says, returning her focus back to her work. “See you tomorrow, Dr. Morrison. You too, Hana.”</p><p>The two wave goodbye to Ms. Sojourn as they finally make their way outside the building, walking a casual pace to the parking lot ahead.  </p><p>“Oh, yeah. That’s right.” Dr. Morrison suddenly realizes as he looks over at his daughter. “You never told me how band class went today. Did Dr. de Kuiper remember what time class was?”</p><p>“Yes, he did.” Hana laughs as she recalls the first day of school. “Class went fine today. We did some introductions before getting a chance to play for a bit.”</p><p>“Nice.” He nods along. “How did introductions go? What all did he want to know?”</p><p>“Let’s see…um…name, year, pronouns and reason for pursuing music.”</p><p>“And did you tell him the truth about your reason for pursuing music?” He playfully asks, knowing full well why his daughter did so in the first place.</p><p>“Yes, I did…” She rolls her eyes. “Told him that Brigitte was my girlfriend and everything.”</p><p>“How did he react to that?” Dr. Morrison asks as they step off the curb and onto the asphalt of the parking lot.</p><p>“Really well, actually! He said our relationship was, and I quote, cute.” Hana smiled, remembering the pleasant memory. “He also told us that his classroom was a safe space for anyone within the LGBT+ spectrum!”</p><p>“Nice!” He compliments with a raised fist. “Although, I kind of figured he was one to do something like that. Given his history.”</p><p>“Really? What do you mean?”</p><p>Realizing that he almost let an aspect about Dr. de Kuiper almost slip out that shouldn’t be known to most, Dr. Morrison quickly back tracks to cover his tail.</p><p>“I mean…uh…I meant, he seems like the type of person who accepts any and everybody! Just a generally nice dude, I mean. His history was being nothing but nice to everyone around him! You know, in…prior school environments and what not?”</p><p>“Oh.” Hana says as he hopes that was enough to satiate her curiosity. “Yeah, he is pretty nice, isn’t he?”</p><p>Dr. Morrison breaths a sigh of relief as they reach their car, thankful that somehow worked as he moves the conversation forward with, “Yeah. You all should have a good year ahead of you with him at the helm. I have nothing but positive things to say about him.”</p><p>“Yeah! Like I said before, I’m actually really looking forward to band this year!” She exclaims as they climb into the car.</p><p>He was happy for her, especially after everything that occurred last year with their previous instructor becoming ill. Dr. Morrison really believed that Siebren was a good fit for the band and a much needed breath of fresh air for the department as a whole. It was then he was reminded of a certain orchestra director that he had another question for his daughter.</p><p>“Just checking to make sure but,” He sighed, buckling himself into his seat. “You haven’t had…any more troubles with Dr. O’Deorain, have you?”</p><p>Dr. Morrison felt his shoulders relax as his daughter shook her head before stating, “No. The most she's done is just simply acknowledge me with nothing more than a glance, let alone say a single word to me directly.”</p><p>“Good. Let’s just hope it stays that way and you let me know if it ever changes.” Dr. Morrison simply stated, leaving it at that as the memories of that unpleasant ordeal popped up in his head for a moment while in the middle of putting his keys in the ignition.</p><p>It was one afternoon in March of last school year that Hana came to him just after school had let out, where she appeared a bit more…down and not really herself. When Dr. Morrison inquired why that was, it was then she burst into tears before telling her father that Dr. O’Deorain apparently yelled at her for no reason in front of the whole class. He had to admit that he jumped straight into protective father mode rather than the more professional assistant principal mode as he immediately went to get to the bottom of it.</p><p>In practically interrogating the red head, he was able to find out that it did, indeed, actually happened and Hana wasn’t the only student she had apparently yelled at. Hana coming forward caused others to do the same as a case was quickly made against the interim band director. When asked if there was any logical reason for doing such a thing, Dr. O’Deorain couldn’t come up with an answer, instead completely avoiding the gazes of her superiors with a pained look of…something across her face.</p><p>Dr. Morrison was telling the truth when he told Siebren he would’ve fired her right then and there on the spot. Unfortunately for him, a couple things stood in his way, namely Dr. Amari and Dr. Reyes, respectively. Although, in this case, it was more Dr. Reyes who advocated for Moira and brought to everyone’s attention that they just couldn’t afford losing someone like her especially after already losing a band teacher. Dr. Reyes was somehow able to convince Dr. Amari into giving her a second chance if Moira vowed to make changes to herself, which she did, albeit begrudgingly.</p><p>Although, Dr. Morrison never bought it for a second, completely against the idea of second chances in a case like this. Especially when she emotionally hurt his daughter of all people.</p><p>Since then, the man held a grudge of disdain towards the woman that he practically wore on his sleeve, their nonexistent relationship falling further into disarray as the disdain became more than mutual between him and her. Simply put, Dr. Morrison <em>hated </em>Dr. O’Deorain with all of his heart. He never believed his opinion of her would ever change for the positive. As far as he was concerned, she didn't care at all about her students. If Dr. Amari weren’t a factor, he absolutely would’ve fired her ass and almost wished he made more of a case to do so. He considers it to be his biggest regret in life.</p><p>God, just thinking about that woman made his blood boil and made him want to rant on and on for days.</p><p>“Thank you, by the way.” Hana suddenly speaks up as they pull away from one of the assistant principal's parking spaces.</p><p>He gives her a confused look as his clouded head begins to clear, seeking clarification with, “For what?”</p><p>She's hesitant in replying but he's patient and understanding as he waits for her to feel comfortable before she explains, “For taking care of that, I mean. Everything between…me and her.”</p><p>While waiting on a car in front of them to pull out of their spot, Dr. Morrison reaches an arm over his daughter's shoulders, pulling her close as he reassures her with, “Of course, sweetie. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to keep you safe and happy. You’re my daughter and you mean the world to me. Don't you ever forget that, as well as the fact that I'll love you forever and always.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Hana smiles, content with his loving words as she embraces his affection. “I’ll always love you too, dad.”</p><p>Dr. Morrison liked to think he was a good adoptive father and it was heart warming moments like this where he believed he was. He couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face as he still couldn't get over her calling him, of all people in the world, her father. It never ceased to make his heart flutter whenever she referred to him as so.</p><p>“So, what do you want to eat tonight?” He asks after their little moment together.</p><p>“Can we do noodle bowls?” She asks hopefully.</p><p>“I don't see why not.” Dr. Morrison smiles, earning a small cheer from his daughter as they finally set off for home.</p><p>= = =</p><p>“…so then, by the time we got to the second scale, everyone was pretty much out by the end of it! Except for Lúcio, of course. Oh, and Mako. Guess they knew all their scales.” Fareeha recalled from the backseat of her mother’s SUV, casually holding her girlfriend’s hand as she recounted her day.</p><p>“Why am I not surprised?” Angela laughed along. “How did he react to that?”</p><p>“Dr. de Kuiper was surprisingly chill about it, actually. He just laughed it off and said it looked like some of us needed to practice more.” She shrugged her shoulders.</p><p>“Well, that’s nice of him. I take it you were part of the group who needs to practice more?” Angela playfully asked, already knowing the answer as her girlfriend avoided her gaze.</p><p>“Maybe…?” Fareeha sheepishly grinned.</p><p>Angela just rolled her eyes in response, shaking her head before mentioning, “I can’t even begin imagine how Dr. O’Deorain would’ve reacted if she made you all do that. If she was still your director, of course.”</p><p>“Not well, obviously. I mean, she already has it out for us.”</p><p>“Probably because none of you practice.” Her girlfriend said, bringing up a fair and valid point. “She’s not <em>that </em>bad. She just has a low tolerance for messing around.”</p><p>“Not that bad? Easy for you to say. She actually <em>likes </em>you.” Fareeha playfully countered. “I’m still trying to figure how you managed to do <em>that</em>.”</p><p>“Maybe because I actually dedicate some of my time to actually practicing, unlike some people? Well, that and the fact that I follow her directions, unlike most people.”</p><p>“Again, easier said than done.” She said, throwing up her hands in a nonchalant gesture.</p><p>“I don’t mean to interrupt your conversation, girls, but,” Dr. Amari quickly spoke up from the driver’s seat. “We have arrived at your house, Angela.”</p><p>Sure enough, as the couple quickly took in their surroundings, they had, indeed, arrived at Angela’s house. Time sure does fly when you get lost in endless conversations with your partner.  </p><p>“Oh! Thank you for the ride home, Dr. Amari!” Angela politely expressed as she gathered up her belongings from the floor. “I really appreciate it! It sure beats taking the bus!”</p><p>“Of course. Any time, Angela. All you have to do is ask. I certainly don't mind doing so.” Dr. Amari smiled as she looked back at the two. “I'm certain that Fareeha won't mind as well.”</p><p>Before Angela could make her way out the door and up the steps to her house, Fareeha stopped her from doing so, unbuckling her seatbelt and making her way out the vehicle after halting her with, “Wait. Hold on. Let me get the door for you.”</p><p>Angela and Dr. Amari watched with loving smiles on their faces as Fareeha ran around to the other side, swinging open Angela's door before extending her hand out with a cute, “After you, my dear."</p><p>Angela accepted her girlfriend's hand with a stifled giggle, playing along with, “Why thank you. Such a sweetheart.”</p><p>Dr. Amari continued to watch the cute display as her daughter led her girlfriend all the way to the front door of the house, quite content in seeing her daughter so happy. She thought back to the first time she learned of the two becoming an official couple at the end of the last school year.</p><p>Normally, around that time of year, with state testing and regular curriculum just about finished up, teachers would throw small celebrations here and there in honor of just that. Angela and Fareeha shared an English class throughout last year and their teacher threw a little end of the year party for the class as they maintained good grades throughout the entire year. When Ana saw her daughter that afternoon after on their car ride home, she noticed a peculiar lipstick marking painted into her right cheek. The poor girl didn't even realize it was there as her mother inquired as to how it got there.</p><p>Eventually, after the initial shock and some stammering, Fareeha revealed that she asked out her long time crush during that little party. Shortly after she said yes, the two found themselves out of the way and in a corner of the classroom, overloaded on cuteness as they, *gasp*, <em>held hands</em>. It was just before class let out that Angela apparently gave her a quick peck on the cheek as a parting gift. Along with that lovely information, Fareeha also came out as gay to her mother who, of course, accepted her in a heartbeat.</p><p>Although she was hardly surprised, seeing as though this was technically the second time her daughter had come out to her. But, in all honesty, she was just happy that her daughter not only felt comfortable in sharing such matters with her but also the fact that she was in the lifelong process of figuring herself out. To her, as long as Fareeha was happy, she was happy and would do most anything to make sure it stayed that way.</p><p>“I'll text you around the time I start making dinner, ok?” Angela softly smiled, hand and hand with her girlfriend at her front door.</p><p>“After you practice and do homework, right?” Fareeha correctly assumed as her partner nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, I should probably practice too...”</p><p>“Yeah, you should.” She laughed. “I can probably help you out, to be honest. With your scales, I mean. Dr. O'Deorain likes to do mini music theory lessons in the middle of class. I still remember most of it, I think.”</p><p>“Yeah, I would appreciate any help I can get. Maybe we can do, like, a little…music theory date. Or, um, something like that, y'know?”</p><p>“That sounds lovely. We can do that, yeah. We’ll plan something out later on tonight.” Angela hummed before suddenly kissing her partner square on the lips. Pulling away, she couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her flustered girlfriend who did not expect that at all. Only recently did they get to that point in their relationship where they felt comfortable enough to kiss each other on the lips. Angela, of course, initiated their first proper kiss, making her girlfriend a flustered mess in the process. It was honestly kind of cute seeing Fareeha get all flustered even after several more kisses here and there.</p><p>“Still not used to it yet, I see?” Anglea commented in between her laugh.</p><p>“J-Just a little…” Fareeha stammered, unable to control her madly blushing face. “It's…really obvious, isn't it?”</p><p>“Yes, but it's ok. You’re ok.” She reassuringly smiled. “You'd tell me if I’m moving too fast for you, right?”</p><p>“Yeah. Right. I mean…I'm fine with it. The pace we're going right now, I mean.”</p><p>“Good. So am I.” Angela said before placing another quick kiss on her lips. “I have to go practice now, so I'll talk to you later.”</p><p>“Yeah. Of course.” Fareeha smiled, watching her girlfriend undo the locks to her house as she stepped inside, but not before she could say, “I…um…appreciate your existence.”</p><p>Angela looked back, practically beaming upon hearing those words leave her girlfriend's nervous lips. They weren't at the stage of saying “I love you" to each other, not yet at least. But they found another small phrase of affection they could use that they both felt comfortable with. Lately, they had been saying it more and more to each other as their relationship continues to blossom. Angela liked to think she would, one day, be able to say those three special words to her girlfriend. But for now, their little phrase was more than enough for the pace they were going as she returned the words back Fareeha's way with a heartfelt smile as she said, “I appreciate your existence as well. I'll text you later. I promise.”</p><p>Content with that, Fareeha exchanged one last final wave as her girlfriend slipped into her home for the day before walking down the front porch to her mother's car. Dr. Amari could see the more than obvious smile on her face as she walked with a certain pep to her step. Try as she might to hide it as she composed herself before opening the front passenger door, it became immediately apparent that it simply wouldn’t be the case as she looked up to see her mother’s all-knowing smile after buckling herself into the seat.</p><p>“You really like her, don't you?” Dr. Amari spoke up with a soft smile of her own.</p><p>“Y-Yeah…” Fareeha sheepishly admitted, avoiding her mother’s gaze. “I mean, I…yeah, I really do…”</p><p>“I can certainly tell. I have a keen eye for that sort of thing.” She joked.</p><p>“Another one of your mom superpowers?” Her daughter playfully asked.</p><p>“But of course!” Dr. Amari laughed, giving her an all-knowing wink. “My powers know no limit. But I don’t need them to tell that she really likes you as well. It’s more than apparent in the way she acts around anything involving you.”</p><p>“R-Really? You…think so?”</p><p>“Oh, I <em>know so</em>. Like I said. Keen eye and everything.”</p><p>Knowing that her mother spoke nothing but the truth, Fareeha was quite content with that lovely confirmation. It was good to know that she, apparently, wasn’t the only one who noticed the chemistry they had as a couple.</p><p>“I just…she just…really makes me happy.” She truthfully admitted. “She likes me for…well, me. Like she <em>actually </em>likes me as is.”</p><p>“That's wonderful to hear. I'm happy for you two.” Dr. Amari smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m more than positive that you make her quite happy as well.”</p><p>“I really hope I do…” Fareeha sighed as she sat back in the seat, her mother giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.</p><p>With that, they pulled away from Angela’s house to a have pleasant drive back to their own home. The younger Amari looked forward to planning this little music theory date. One, because she wanted to spend some quality time with her girlfriend and two, because she didn’t want to keep losing scale survivor, especially since she was naturally competitive. She could easily be one of the top students in the class if she practiced more.</p><p>Although, she had a feeling that most of her other classmates would probably start practicing more as well.</p><p>“Oh, that's right!” Her mother suddenly speaks up as she looks over at her. “When we get home, can you remind me to take that pot roast out of the freezer? I want to make it before the end of the week and figure I'll put it in the crock pot for tomorrow.”</p><p>“Yeah, of course!”</p><p>= = =</p><p>As soon as Siebren undid the locks and stepped into his townhouse home for the day, he was unsurprisingly greeted with the always friendly sight of his grey tabby cat, Gilbert, running towards him before coming to a rest just at his feet with a soft meow.</p><p>“Ah, good afternoon, Gilbert.” He smiles, dropping his briefcase bag by the door as he bends down to pick up the cat and pull him into a loving hug as he steps into the foyer of his living room. “I trust that you've behaved yourself while I was away? Oh, what am I saying? You always do!”</p><p>Gilbert is content in purring throughout their embrace before Siebren lets him go as he lets the cat climb up onto his upper back and shoulder. Siebren could've sworn he got a cat and not a parrot from the shelter all those years ago as he was quick to learn that Gilbert quite enjoyed taking refuge on his shoulder as if he were a bird of some sort. He didn't understand why his furry friend displayed that rather odd behavior for a cat of all things, chocking it up to Gilbert just wanting to be high and mighty like him, but he wasn't exactly complaining about it either as he certainly didn’t mind the close company.</p><p>It had been, understandably, lonely around here for the older man ever since three years ago. Gilbert has done so much for the overall improvement of his mental health ever since then but at the same time, he could only help but so much. Siebren would be lying to himself if he said he didn't crave some sort of companionship and by that he meant another person presence compared to a cat’s. It was only natural, he supposed. Loneliness was nothing unfamiliar to him, unfortunately, and he didn't see that changing any time soon.</p><p>Well, to a degree.</p><p>Just as he predicted, getting out of the house and pursuing this band teacher job not only improved his mental health a bit, but also some of that loneliness. He truly enjoyed interacting with his students, determined to make the most out of every moment they had together. There were all sorts of interesting characters in his class this year and couldn't wait to create that little band family once more as the months would go by. Even though he had only just properly met them all today, he already felt that connection and responsibility for them. Especially after he explained how his classroom was a safe space for queer individuals.</p><p>Dare he say, he already felt like they were his family. Really the only family he had right now. Well, Gilbert was still his family as well but still.</p><p>Siebren was feeling more and more confident in his decision as the days continued to go by. Even more so as he regarded a particular picture frame that always stood on his glass coffee table as a reminder, breathing a soft sigh as he did. He was in a much better place now compared to three years ago and it seemed things would only keep improving from here.</p><p>He begins walking towards the kitchen to prepare his meal for one this evening, getting Gilbert's input on what he should make as he asked the cat, “What do you think, my friend? What do you suppose I should make tonight?”</p><p>The grey tabby replies with another soft meow as his answer.</p><p>“It appears great minds think alike as I was thinking the same thing.” Siebren laughs. “Stir fry vegetables it is then. Well, at least for me, that is. I'm thinking…wet food for you?”</p><p>Gilbert adds on another curt meow in response.</p><p>“Alright. But only a <em>little</em> bit of salmon. Can't spoil you too much, as much as you know I'd like to.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>How does it feel learning about slightly more about these characters?  Wild, right? Look man, we're doing this slow burn right and proper. Honestly, Moira just tolerates Siebren at this point but, of course, that's going to change down the line. This is a chapter that, down the line, you'll look back on and go, oh shit I know why character do that thing! I'm having so much fun with this damn AU! It's honestly criminal. </p><p>But that's all for now. Tune in next time when Siebren makes himself a new friend! I'll give you a hint. They are in this chapter and no it isn't Moira. Leave your best guess down below if you want to and I'll completely ignore your answer because a magician never reveals her tricks. At least, until the next chapter.</p><p>Until next time and take care. </p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Welcome to the Family Pt. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lena's usually peaceful walk to school is unfortunately interrupted by two unsavory individuals who have a knack for occasionally making her school life a living hell. </p><p>In running away from her problems, as she usually tends to do, she finds solace and protection in a certain gentle giant, planting the seeds for a newfound friendship between the two of them going forward</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, what's up? Quick heads up we have our first content warning. As small as it may be, it's still worth mentioning and it's not going to be a regular thing. It was mainly only used for this chapter, I think. Content warnings will usually be listed at the beginning, usually at the end of these chapter notes. Pretty self explanatory. </p><p>Anyway, I'm too tired to say much. So, enjoy this chapter instead. </p><p>CW: bullying</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena Oxton quite enjoyed her early morning walks to school almost every day and this morning was no different as she walked along the sidewalk with a certain pep in her step. It was a peaceful little stroll that she always took advantage of in order to properly wake her body up and mentally prepare herself for the school day ahead. She liked arriving to school early so she could spend time with her friends or girlfriends before the inevitable start of classes, often getting to school forty five minutes or more before the first bell of the day would even ring. It helped that she was a morning person, owing that to early morning cross country practices towards the end of summer break and well into the beginning of the school year.  </p><p>Although, once school was in session once again, those early morning practices shifted to Sunday mornings instead of every week day, but that’s beside the point. It was much easier to get a good run in when the sun and heat hadn’t reached their peak height and temperature yet.</p><p>Lena quite enjoyed her time on the cross country and track teams, finding a sense of belonging as well as a purpose in the sports. Sure, band was also another source for the two ideas, but she couldn’t deny the stronger passion for running. While she was more of a short distance sprinter and hurdler, she used cross country to sort of get in shape for track season which would usually start around late fall or early winter. Having any sort of proper conditioning did wonders for her performance in competitions. That being said, it wasn’t like she was bad or anything at long distance running as she had been getting more and more comfortable with it after her middle school coach suggested she take up cross country in high school.</p><p>Similar to running, these early morning walks gave Lena a sort of proper time in order to personally think to herself as well as work through anything she might happen to be dealing with at the time. Although, the only thing she could think about for the past couple of days now was her new band director, Dr. de Kuiper and just how awesome he was. Simply put, he genuinely seems like a really great person who looks out for his students. When it comes to him, it was more so a question of what’s there not to like about him?</p><p>Having only had class with the man two times now, technically one time since he was late the first day, Lena surprisingly already had a good feeling about him. He was downright hilarious at times, seemingly having a joke for almost anything that came out of someone’s mouth. He also very passionate about his subject of teaching which was more than could be said about most other teachers. She could recall plenty of teachers she’s had that weren’t at all passionate about the subject they were teaching, let alone even interested at times. On top of that, Dr. de Kuiper seemed like a pretty down to earth guy, recognizing that everyone comes from different walks of life with different things they deal with. She especially appreciated his acceptance, and even genuine support, of queer individuals. Being a young trans girl herself, she was incredibly elated upon hearing his support of trans rights. Any place that she could authentically be herself was always a welcome one.</p><p>It was rare for teachers to voice their personal opinions, especially such liberal and open-minded ones at that. She couldn’t think of any other teacher she had that voiced their support of trans individuals.</p><p>Speaking of other teachers, inevitably, the comparisons between Dr. de Kuiper and Dr. O’Deorain would naturally come up. But to be fair, Dr. O’Deorain was nowhere near the conversation in terms of comparison for Lena as she elected to think of the two as separate from one another, both of them having their own sort of unique experience that came up with their teachings. It was all too easy to just say one was better than the other or vice versa and leave it at that but she didn’t really think it was fair to judge them that way. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, depending on who you asked, she had her own opinions on the orchestra director that <em>actually</em> differed from most, being a bit more positive in nature.</p><p>Lena was one of the few band individuals who actually didn’t mind Dr. O’Deorain all too much. Yeah, she wasn’t the perfect teacher and could be a bit critical at times, but Lena didn’t have too bad of an experience like most when she took over as interim band director. In dating her niece since the beginning of freshmen year, she quickly came to learn that the often ill-favored red head wasn’t nearly as bad as people made her out to be. While they weren’t really all that close, Lena did get to constantly see her in a more personal light whenever her and her girlfriends occupied her apartment space.</p><p>Always trying to see the good in people, there was certainly plenty to be seen in Dr. O’Deorain from her eye. Try as she might to hide her more personal side whenever they were in her presence, Dr. O’Deorain wasn’t perfect in keeping up her stoic façade. Lena thought her affinity for Oscar was pretty cute as the dog was practically her baby, albeit a big one. She also really enjoyed her cooking as Dr. O’Deorain surprisingly had a knack for the activity, sometimes cooking up such wonderful and delicious dinners for the polycule on occasion.   </p><p>Plus, according to Emily, she was always there when she was needed by her niece, proving herself to be more than capable in the guardian role as she had been taking care of and practically raising Emily ever since she was a wee little baby. Emily often talked about her aunt as one of her role models in life, being quite important to her because Moira was technically the only immediate family member she had left at this point in her life.</p><p>But as far as Lena was concerned, as long as her girlfriend was happy, that was all that really mattered to her. If Dr. O’Deorain made Emily happy, then she made Lena happy by proxy.</p><p>Back to her morning walk, Lena rounds the corner of the same street her high school happened to occupy, the building just being five more minutes away in terms of walking distance. She could easily make it out in the distance, what with it being taller than all of the nearby houses. It’s during this time that she also notices that she’s not the only one on this walk as she can make out two other students just ahead of her, perhaps fifty meters out or so. Just two girls seemingly chatting away with one another as they walked side by side with backpacks slung over their shoulders.</p><p>Nothing out of the ordinary, or at least that’s what it seemed at first glance…</p><p>Thinking nothing more of the two girls ahead of her, Lena’s attention quickly shifts to a house across the street with a colorful and pretty garden out front. Because of her ADHD, the first thing she thinks about when she sees the garden is a small out of the way conversation that she happened to listen in on that took place between Emily and Dr. O’Deorain sometime over summer break. She specifically remembers the fact of the older woman expressing interest in making a little hanging garden for their apartment balcony as she asked her niece for suggestions for plants.</p><p>What was the plant that Emily suggested again in that late summer conversation? Suck-cu-something? Succubus? Wait, no, that’s not a plant. That’s something else entirely. Ugh, the word was on the tip of her tongue…</p><p>If Lena had another minute or two, she probably could’ve figured out the exact word. Unfortunately for her, her thought process was soon interrupted by one of the girls ahead of her as she belted out a particularly high pitched and…unpleasantly familiar laugh that could only belong to one specific person that Lena had the displeasure of knowing. The very thought of said person and what they meant for her caused her stomach sink and eyes grow wide with a sudden onset of anxiety.</p><p>No, it couldn’t possibly be her…right?</p><p>Lena’s comfortable walking pace slowed down to a nervous shuffle as she strained her eyes ahead for a closer look at the two girls, hoping and praying that her ears and eyes were just playing tricks on her. Sadly, her suspicions were ultimately proven correct as she was able to confirm their identities upon further inspection as none other than the loathsome duo of Riley and Faith, more familiar to Lena as the girls who took a sick sort of pleasure making her school life hell through their persistent bullying tactics.</p><p>Riley was a particularly nasty upperclassman, a junior if she remembers correctly. She was easily identifiable by her long locks of dark burgundy dyed hair and her fashion of wearing random band tees under a red flannel jacket. Oh, and you couldn’t forget her demeaning and high-pitched laughter that Lena would often hear in her nightmares, having been on the receiving end too many times to count now.</p><p>Faith was a complete contrast to her, however, as she was as bland as any white blonde girl came, only really recognizable by the messy job of bangs that covered her eyebrows. She’s the kind of person that you can tell just by looking at her that there was nothing particularly special about her. It was probably the reason she hung around girls like Riley as it provided her with a sense of fitting in or feeling apart of something. Although it wasn’t a fair comparison at all, Lena couldn’t help but think of her friend Angela Ziegler where people had plenty of things to describe her as, being angelic, smart and simply lovely to name a few things. Meanwhile, Faith was just…Faith, not really carrying any sort of personality with her name, or really anything for that matter.  </p><p>Lena was glad she caught sight of them before they caught sight of her. It could’ve been real ugly if she happened to walk into their line of sight. There’s no telling what they would’ve done to her. But now that she thinks about, she might actually have the advantage here? Once again, there was a good fifty meters between them right now as it was only growing bigger with her slowed down pace. Even if they happened to look behind him, there was a good chance that they wouldn’t be able to discern her from a distance. On top of the that, the two seemed entirely focused and engrossed in whatever conversation they were having, unlikely to look back for any reason possibly. If it stayed that way all the way to school, then Lena would be in the clear.</p><p>It would easier to lose them in the endless maze of hallways compared to this bright and open outdoor space that left her so exposed.   </p><p>But still, all it would take is a single glance in the wrong direction and they would see her. Maybe their eyesight is better than hers? It sure felt like it at times. Lena would make an effort not to draw too much attention to herself for the rest of the walk. The less she was doing, the better her odds of the two not even noticing her. Just five minutes of lagging behind and keeping a low profile until they reached the building. Determined to make that happen, Lena quietly psyches herself up, fully believing that she can, in fact, do this.</p><p>But, not even five seconds after that does she trip over a raised part of the sidewalk she previously failed to notice, stumbling forward as she tries to regain her footing as she curses out a panicked, “Shit!”</p><p>Fortunately, she manages not to fall flat on her face as she’s able to recover from what could’ve been a nasty fall. Unfortunately, it seems as though she did the one thing she was desperately trying not to do, drawing attention to herself as she looks ahead to see both girls looking back at her. Lena freezes in place, fully believing that the jig was up and that she had been caught.</p><p>But…probably not? Wait a second, hold on. Why are they continuing to just…walk forward and just minding their own business?</p><p>Lena was quite confused as to why the two girls didn’t immediately turn around and approach her as they looked right back at her. Did…did they seriously not notice her? Was their combined vision worse than she expected of them? Maybe they just didn’t care about her anymore? Maybe they were finally done tormenting her? Well, maybe she was being a bit too optimistic with those last two put forth ideas…</p><p>With so many questions left unanswered, Lena didn’t really know what to make of the situation. The way they were just continuing on with their walk was leading her to believe that they really <em>didn’t </em>recognize her at a distance. At least that’s what it seemed? Still, just on the off chance and airing on the side of caution, Lena continued to warily follow behind them, hoping this was the best case scenario and not the opposite. Thankfully, at the very least, they were getting closer and closer to the school building itself as she breathes out a sigh of relief. With every step she took, she would be one step closer to getting out of this sticky situation. Thank goodness…</p><p>But maybe she was celebrating a bit too soon…</p><p>For the second time on this walk, Riley turned her head to look back at her once again as Lena didn’t know what to do. The girl ahead of her appeared to be studying her form a bit more in depth compared to last time, a hand coming to her forehead as she blocks the sun from shining in her eyes. Just when Lena thought it couldn’t get any worse, Riley then appears to tap Faith on the shoulder before getting the blonde to look back as well. With both pairs of eyes studying her a bit more carefully this time, Lena swallows the lump at the back of her throat as it appears that this scenario is taking a turn for the worst.  </p><p>Her fears were confirmed a second later as the two girls put a halt to their walk and instead stood side by side on the sidewalk just ahead of her. As Lena got closer and closer with her more than slowed down pace by this point, she could just make out the sinister smile on Riley’s face that just made her stomach sink further into itself.</p><p>“Well now, look who just so happened to run into us…” Riley sneers, crossing her arms as Lena finally approaches the two. “What a coincidence! It’s funny, we were <em>just </em>talking about you, bite size…”</p><p>“Oh, h-hey guys!” Lena nervously waves, internally cringing at her ‘nickname’. “It’s…uh…been awhile, yeah? W-Wow, haven’t seen you two since…uh, what…since the end of school last year?”</p><p>“That’s right. It <em>has </em>been a while, hasn’t it?” Faith snickers from her friend’s side. “Too long, in fact.”</p><p>“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Gotta say, the summer was <em>real</em> boring not having you to push around all day. I think we should make up for the lost time. Wouldn’t you agree, Faith?” Riley says as the two move to try and box her in.</p><p>“I most certainly agree, Riley!”</p><p>God, what did Lena even do to get on their bad side? More specifically Riley. Faith was more of a blind but “faithful” follower who did pretty anything her friend told her to. There wasn’t anything that Lena could even remotely think of as being a cause for their ire. Although, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was for the fact of Lena being a part of a polyamorous relationship. As completely normal as the relationship was for her and their entire friend group, that wasn’t really the case for some of her other peers around her as the polycule faced varying amounts of discrimination here and there. It wasn’t anything they couldn’t deal with when they were together. It, however, was an entirely different case when they were alone and away from each other…</p><p>Unfortunately, between her and her two girlfriends, Lena was considered a much easier target for sure. Not only was she the smallest of her two partners, but she was pretty small compared to most of her high school peers, coming up short at a measly five foot four. On top of being as threatening as a small child’s stuffed animal, she lacked any sort of “defense mechanism” when compared to her two partners. Where Emily had a hidden and ferocious temper whenever personally slighted, as well as being personally related to one Dr. O’Deorain, Amelie, on the other hand, adopted a scarily cold and unemotional state of existing that deterred most from even simply approaching her. With those two always present in their relationship, no one dared mess with the polycule, face to face at least.</p><p>Hell, even Riley knew how much of a death wish it would be to mess with Lena right in front of them. That’s why she was smart about her bullying, instead seeking the right time to strike whenever the small brunette was alone and away from her partners. Whether it be in between certain classes during school hours or even a few fleeting moments before and after school, Riley always made the most out of any opportunity she got, much like right now…</p><p>“Well, um, if you guys don’t mind, I should <em>really </em>be getting to school right now.” Lena tries to casually smile through the nerves as she attempts to walk around their human blockade. “You know? D-Don’t want to be, uh, late and stuff. Got that perfect attendance r-record to maintain, ha ha…”</p><p>Unsurprisingly, the two girls shifted themselves over, blocking her poor attempt at casually walking away as Faith teases, “Whoa, whoa, what’s the rush? School doesn’t start for another forty minutes! You should have plenty of time to make it there on time! Besides, we won’t take up <em>too </em>much of your time. Maybe…”</p><p>“Mm, yeah. My thoughts exactly…” Riley laughs along with that nightmarishly high pitch of hers. “I’m sure that you spare a bit of time for your two <em>best friends</em>. We just have <em>so much </em>to catch up on since the summer and, seeing as though your girlfriends aren’t around, now’s as good a time as any!”</p><p>Seeing that things were about to get ugly real fast as Riley intimidatingly cracks her knuckles while Faith begins to make a move towards her, Lena wasn’t exactly going to go down without a fight. Not that she could take either of them in a fight on their own, let alone both of them at the same time. Heavens no, she simply didn’t have the strength to put up any sort of real fight. Instead, Lena would do what she normally does with most of her problems in life, and that would be to just simply run away from them while hoping they couldn’t catch up to her. It had varying degrees of success for more complicated problems, but it was the only option she believed she had left in this particular situation.</p><p>With no other choices present, Lena puts the only plan she has into motion as she pushes herself past the two bullies, narrowly slipping in between them and causing them to stagger off their guard. By the time they manage to recover from the sudden and out of nowhere burst of energy moving past them, she’s already well ahead of the two as she sprints towards the school building.</p><p>“Hey!” Riley shouts after her as the two girls begin to give chase. “Where ya going, bite-size? Get back here!”</p><p>It was moments like this where Lena was forever thankful that she took up running as a hobby as she looks over her shoulder to see a decent gap between her and them. Looking back ahead, she sees that the school itself was no more than two hundred meters away, give or take. The two hundred meter dash was one of her favorite events in track, so she could confidently do this! All she needed to do was make there and lose them somewhere in the endless maze of hallways. Simple enough.</p><p>Right?</p><p>As she approaches the school’s west entrance, Lena is already trying to figure out just exactly where in the building she could lose the two girls currently hot on her heels. Thankfully, her brain, in keeping up with the situation, was able to quickly come up with the fool proof idea of running straight to Dr. O’Deorain’s office where she, and no doubt, Emily would probably be. Knowing that Dr. O’Deorain was always one for being “on time”, there was no doubt in her mind that the two would be at school this early in the morning. The fear of the orchestra director wasn’t something that was held just by the band and orchestra alone.</p><p>No, the entire school, students and even some faculty members, knew not to fuck around and find out when it came to Dr. O’Deorain.</p><p>Lena makes it to the doors of the entrance after nearly tripping up the stairs leading to them. She bursts through the heavy doors shoulder first as she looks back to see that Riley and Faith were managing to close the distance between them, being no more than thirty meters away from her! She wastes no time in rushing towards the music department hallway on the right, making a hard right turn down the hallway as she almost loses her footing in the process. She can hear the west entrance doors being slammed open as she doesn’t even elect to look behind her by this point, Dr. O’Deorain’s office within reach.</p><p>It’s when she makes it to the office itself that her heart sinks as she notices that no one is actually <em>in </em>the office, evident by the darkness behind the curtains of the door’s window. Was this really happening right now? Were they really not here yet? Shit, this wasn’t good! Why weren’t they here!? Why now of all days!?</p><p>Lena didn’t have the time to ponder further as she looks to her right to see Riley and Faith just standing hesitantly at the beginning of the music department’s hallway, until they notice the panicked look on her face, that is. Unfortunately, the two are able to put two and two together, catching their breath as they nonchalantly walk towards her at a more than menacing pace. To them, it seemed as though their little chase was coming to an end as Lena seemingly had nowhere else to go. This hallway was a one way road leading from the music department to the theater department in the back and with the duo closing in on her, Lena wasn’t sure she could make it to the exit doors at the end. And for what? Even if she did, it was just delaying the inevitable with more chasing involved…</p><p>Quickly thinking on her feet, Lena has one last thing she can try as she quickly rounds the corner to the right of Dr. O’Deorain’s office, leading to the very short hallway leading to the entrances of the band and orchestra room respectively. Her first instinct is to try and get into the orchestra room which, upon her panicked attempts to open it, turns out is <em>also locked</em>. As soon as she figures that out, Riley and Faith also round the corner as she can see the almost sadistic smile across Riley’s face. Whatever they had planned for her probably wouldn’t be good, seeing as though she <em>really</em> made them work for it…</p><p>In a last, <em>last</em> ditch effort, Lena instead rushes to the band room double doors, praying for a miracle at this point as the two girls practically had her at grabbing distance.</p><p>“Nowhere left for you to run, bite size…” Faith snickers as she and Riley begin to reach for her.</p><p>“Did you really think you could run away from <em>us</em>?” Riley laughs alongside her friend. “Now you’re <em>definitely </em>gonna get it…”</p><p>In a fortunate turn of luck on this seemingly bad morning, the band room is actually open! Lena wastes no time slamming shoulder first into the door, tumbling forward onto the carpeted floor as a certain someone let’s out a more than surprised exclamation of, “Oh, sweet cinnamon!”</p><p>She looks up to see an understandably spooked Dr. de Kuiper looking back at her, coffee cup in being held in both of his hands as he seemingly spilled some onto the floor not even seconds ago. He wasn’t all that awake before she came bursting through his door, hence the reason for the coffee. But he was most certainly awake now, the little scare doing more than a cup of coffee ever could in waking him up!</p><p>“L-Lena?” He questions with a more than confused look across his face. “What on Earth…? Why are you busting down my doors? Are you <em>that </em>excited for band class? If so, I admire your enthusiastic appreciation for it but we don’t even have class today! That is, if I remember correctly?”</p><p>Before she could open up her mouth to explain the situation, she is immediately dragged back into the hallway as the door closes in front of her. The last thing she sees is Dr. de Kuiper’s even more confused face as the doors slam close. Lena is then pushed up against the doors of the orchestra room, Riley knocking the wind out of her as she holds her there with Faith remaining behind her and at her ready. Their faces are mere inches apart as Riley elects to taunt her further, clearly enjoying the fear in her eyes.</p><p>“You sent us on <em>quite </em>the chase, but it looks like you’re all out of options now…” She says in between her own heavy breaths. “We’re gonna teach you a lesson for running away like that, you little bitch! Maybe next time you’ll think twice abou-”</p><p>Suddenly, the two girls nearly jump out of their skin as someone elects to clear their throat from behind, interrupting whatever was going on in front of them. In turning their heads around, they are met with the tallest man they have ever seen in their entire lives as he stood there with arms crossed, a more than unpleasant look across his face.</p><p>“What’s this about teaching someone a lesson, hm?” Siebren sternly asks the two bullies.</p><p>Almost immediately does Riley release Lena from the wall as she fully turns around to face the giant with her friend, both of them suddenly feeling quite small in comparison.  </p><p>“N-Nothing!” Riley stutters, throwing her hands up. “W-We weren’t doing anything! Right, Faith?”</p><p>Faith somehow finds it in her to nod along, stating, “Y-Yeah, we were just…just, um, c-catching up with L-Lena here!”</p><p>“Y-Yeah! We, uh, just haven’t seen her in so long!” Her friend adds on.</p><p>“Is that so?” Siebren says, narrowing his vision as he doesn’t buy their poor attempt of lying at all. “Because, from where I’m standing, it appears as though you two are making threats towards one of <em>my </em>students…”</p><p>Having been correctly called out on their bullshit, the two girls look between each other, trying to think of anything they can say to either get out of this situation or appease the scary giant man.</p><p>“I don’t know how long this has been going on for but I’m putting an end to it right now.” He huffs, hands now on his hips as he breaks out his rarely used stern teacher voice. “Leave <em>my </em>student alone. I don’t want either of you so much as anywhere in the same vicinity as her. If I happen hear from her that the two of you, despite my very clear warning, continue to bother her, then I’m afraid I’ll have to take said matters into my own hands…”</p><p>Now, to be very clear, Siebren wasn’t threatening them with violence or anything of the sorts, no. He was the very definition of a “gentle giant”, afraid to hurt even so much as a fly. What he meant by “taking matters into his own hands” meant that he would directly inform someone like Dr. Amari or Dr. Morrison to take the correct disciplinary actions. But the two girls didn’t know that. All they knew was that a giant man they had never seen before was currently threatening them with some unknown punishment and that was <em>more than enough to get the point across</em>.</p><p>Seeing that they more than understood his warning with the nervous nods of their heads, Siebren has no reason to hold them any further as he gives them one last piece of advice before they part ways.</p><p>“I highly suggest that the two of you stay away from music arts department entirely.” He says, looking between the two as they shrink further into themselves. “I will <em>not </em>tolerate any sort of bullying around here, no matter how big or <em>small</em>. Do I make myself clear?”  </p><p>“Y-Yes, s-sir! I…I understand!” Faith quickly replies, cowering beneath his gaze.</p><p>Riley, who looked to be on the verge of an anxiety attack, replies right after with, “Y-Yeah! W-We’ll leave her alone and s-stay away from this h-hallway!”</p><p>Satisfied with their responses, Siebren motions a hand towards the beginning of the hallway, simply stating, “Then you two are free to go.”  </p><p>Lena watches with a certain smug satisfaction as her bullies scramble away in fear, fully believing that they were truly done with tormenting her after a stern talking from her band director.</p><p>Switching back to the gentle tone of voice she knows him for, Siebren helps her off the ground, worriedly asking, “Are you alright, Ms. Lena? Did any bodily harm come to you?”</p><p>“No, m'fine, Dr. de Kuiper!” She smiles, graciously accepting his help. “Just a lil bit winded after they slammed up against the wall. Was already pretty winded after they were chasing me though but I'll manage.”</p><p>“They were chasing you?” He questions aloud, inquiring further as they walk into the band room. “Oh dear. Perhaps I let them off a bit too lightly…”</p><p>“Nah, it's alright. I’ve never seen em' that scared before.” Lena simply waves it off. “I think it's safe to say that won't be messing with me anymore!”</p><p>“So, this <em>was </em>a problem beforehand?” He asks, sitting down behind his piano/makeshift desk as he plays a quick rising and falling scale.</p><p>“Yeah…” She sheepishly admits. “But like I said, they shouldn’t be messing with me anymore. You sure showed them! Was funny watchin' them run away like that! Really satisfyin’!”</p><p>“I'd imagine so but don't think I don't see you trying to change the subject.” Siebren states, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. “How long had they been tormenting you like that, Lena? Be honest with me, if you can.”</p><p>Lena lets out a sigh, her smile fading away as she truthfully admits, “Since…I don't know? Maybe like…around winter of my freshmen year. So, last year…?”</p><p>“For that long?” He asks her, surprised as she simply nods her head. “That's no way to live your life, my dear girl. Did you happen to tell anybody about it?”</p><p>“Not really…” She says, looking off to the side. “I…I just didn't want anyone worryin’ about me…I guess…”</p><p>“Still. There's absolutely nothing wrong with others worrying about you.”</p><p>“Yeah but…I just didn’t want to upset anybody. Especially not my girlfriends…”</p><p>“Girlfriends?” Siebren asks. “As in, plural?”</p><p>“Ye, I got two girlfriends. One of them is Dr. O’Deorain's niece. The other is in orchestra with her.” Lena casually explains to him. “Well, I mean, both of them are in orchestra, actually. Emily, she's Dr. O’Deorain's niece, she plays viola and Amelie plays violin. They're both really good musicians, better than me. Although Amelie is actually better, to be honest. She's like…<em>amazing</em>.”</p><p>“Huh. Well, I'll take your word for it.” He laughs to himself. “But <em>two</em> girlfriends? Am I assuming correctly that this is a polyamorous relationship?”</p><p>“Ye, exactly! We all like each other a lot! So that makes us a triad, I think?”</p><p>“I believe that term is…correct?” Siebren ponders alongside her. “If you'll forgive an old man, I'm not all that familiar with polyamorous relationships. But I suppose that now’s as good a time as any to learn more about it!”</p><p>“So, you're ok with it?” She carefully asks.</p><p>“I don’t see why not? I may not fully understand it at the moment but as far as I'm concerned, love is love and polyamory seems to be another healthy form of love under the right circumstances. It seems to me that you and your girlfriends know what you all are doing.” He says, giving her a genuine smile. “Also, I noticed a bit of hesitation in your tone of voice when asking that. Do you all face any problems or…?”</p><p>“A bit, yeah. Some people just don't understand it, I guess. But all our friends are pretty much ok with it, so that’s all that really matters at the end of the day!”</p><p>“I wholeheartedly agree! That’s an excellent way of assessing most things in life. All that really matters is whoever cares about you at the end of the day. Certainly has a nice ring to it.”</p><p>“Ye!” She grins back at him.</p><p>“Do you suppose that’s a reason as to why those girls were bothering you? Your relationship, I mean.” He asks, trying to find any sort of reason for the inexcusable behavior. “Well, technically <em>relationships</em>, I suppose.”</p><p>“You know, I'm not quite sure actually?” She honestly ponders for a moment, unable to come up with anything substantial. “Could be a number of things, really. Could be that, could be because I’m short? Could be the fact that I’m trans? Could be the fact that I can be annoying at times?”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah…a bit. I tend to talk a lot about a whole lot o’ things, y’know? There’s always a lot on my mind. Too much sometimes but I manage. It’s hard sometimes. Like, I have trouble sittin’ still in class, although not as much since Emily and Amelie pitched in and got me this cute little stim toy.” She says, pulling out said stim toy to show her teacher.</p><p>“No, no, no!” Siebren laughs at the simple misunderstanding. “I was saying ‘really’ to the fact of you being trans, ha ha! I didn’t know! And you’re right, it <em>is </em>pretty cute.”</p><p>“Oh.” She quickly realizes where she went wrong. “Oh, yeah. I’m trans. Trans girl. Been on hormones since before puberty and what not. Also, I really liked it the other day when you said trans rights, by the way! That made me feel good about myself!”</p><p>“As you should!” He says, nodding along. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many transgender students I’ve taught over the years. Or queer kids in general, to be honest with you. I swear, I’m like a magnet for them! Every where I go there’s always a handful of them who gravitate towards me!”</p><p>“I can definitely see why! And I can definitely say that most of the band is queer as well! I can go into specifics, if you’d like?”</p><p>“I appreciate the idea, but I don’t believe that’s your place to tell me.” Siebren softly states. “I’d very much rather those individuals feel comfortable enough to tell me instead of you just telling me. I don’t believe that would be very fair, wouldn’t you agree? Coming out is a very personal thing for some.”</p><p>“Oh! Shit! Uh…I mean…shoot, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that…”</p><p>“It’s quite alright, my dear. I know it wasn’t coming from a place of malice or anything like that. I just hold a lot of respect for my students and I’m glad that you understand.”</p><p>“Ye, of course!” She says, returning a genuine smile his way.</p><p>As soon as that sentence leaves her mouth, the first bell of the day suddenly rings out in the room, signaling the proper beginning of the school day as classes would start roughly twenty minutes from now.</p><p>“Oh, shoot!” Lena exclaims, pulling out her phone as she begins to collect her things and head for the door. “I didn’t even realize what time it was! Oh, man. Everyone’s been blowing up my phone this whole time and I didn’t even realize it!”</p><p>“Ah, hold on for one moment. Let me pass on a helpful bit of information before you leave, Ms. Lena.” Siebren stops her, getting up from his piano desk as he walks with her towards the double doors of the band room. “Firstly, should you encounter any problems that requires you to run away like you did today or even if you’re just bored and need a place to breath for a moment, the band room is always free for you to take refuge in, no matter the time of day.”</p><p>“Wait, really?” She looks up at him all giddy and grateful. “Wow, thank you, Dr. de Kuiper!”</p><p>“Of course, anytime, my friend! As long as you respect the space, which I have no doubt you’ll do, you are free to come and go as you please!” He smiles down at her.</p><p>“Yeah, no, I got you!”</p><p>“Good, but that’s not all. When I say, ‘no matter the time of day’, I mean that in the most literal sense, actually.” He admitted. “Meaning you could, quite literally, get into the band room at any point in the day or even night!”  </p><p>“Wait, what? How does…how does that even work?” Lena asks, confused as to how that would even work at night when school was closed.</p><p>“Well, I’ll show you! If you’ll step outside the band room with me…” He says, leading her out before closing the door. “I actually figured out a way to get into the band room without the use of a key!”</p><p>“Really? How?”</p><p>“It was when I, er, somehow locked myself out of the band room earlier this week while my keys were still in the room itself.” He sheepishly admits, locking the door in order to demonstrate his ‘little trick’. “In trying to get back in, I stumbled upon a nifty little trick that requires no key to open the door. Watch closely.”</p><p>Lena watches as he leans into the door itself before fiddling with door handle as he somehow manages to swing the door open after almost lifting the door handle up or something like that. She didn’t really understand it but it apparently worked and that was good enough for her!</p><p>“How did you do even <em>do </em>that?” She asks.</p><p>“It’s a lot simpler than it looks actually. All you have to do is first, push against the door,” He explains, repeating the process once again but slower. “Then lift the door handle, and by extension, the door and pull it open! Push, lift, pull! It’s quite easy to remember, really. Why don’t you give it shot?”</p><p>He closes the door once again before moving out of the way as Lena follows the motions she just watched. Doing exactly what he did, she pushes against the door, lifts the handle then pulls against the door and to her surprise, it <em>actually worked</em>. Baffled that she managed to do it first try, she most she could do in the moment was stare at her teacher in shock and awe.</p><p>“See? You’re a natural at this!” Siebren laughs. “Much better than me, if I’m being honest!”</p><p>“I seriously can’t believe that it’s <em>that </em>simple!” Lena exclaims, still dumbfounded that it actually worked.</p><p>“Oh, yes, I know. I had the same reaction as well. But now, you can get into the band room any time you need to. And you don’t even need me here to do so!”</p><p>“Yeah, no, that’s awesome! Thanks for showing me this as well as allowing me to use the room when I need to!” She says, practically beaming with joy and appreciation.</p><p>“Of course.” Siebren smiles back at her. “Although, that’s all the tricks up my sleeve, I’m afraid. At least for right now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find and share some more with you over the school year?”</p><p>“Yeah, definitely!” Lena waves to him as she begins to make her way to town hall to meet her girlfriends. “See you in class tomorrow, Dr. de Kuiper! Thanks again!”</p><p>“Of course! Have a good rest of your day!” He quickly waves back before turning to go back into the band room.</p><p>Before he can though, Dr. O’Deorain rounds the corner as she’s presumably making her way to the orchestra room, cup of straight black coffee in hand.  </p><p>“Oh, good morning, Dr. O’Deorain!” Siebren cheerfully greets hers.</p><p>“Mm, good morning to you too, Dr. de Kuiper.” Moira casually mumbles, not awake enough to even make an attempt at matching his early morning cheerfulness. Not that she could in the first place, actually. As she enters into the lair that was her orchestra room, she ponders how anybody could be so upbeat and cheery this early in the morning…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I just feel like they would be good friends at the very least in canon. Lena and Siebren, I mean. You know, considering how they both went through life altering events and came out the other end not the same as they were. I dunno. I felt like they could easily relate to each other on that. That's my thought process behind their friendship. Let me know what you think cause we'll be seeing Lena a lot more throughout our slowburn. </p><p>Also, don't quote me on this, but I think the next chapter will be the end to this short story arc. I think. Not sure yet.</p><p>Until next time and take care. </p><p>Follow me @starlightocelot on <a href="https://starlightocelot.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and/or <a href="https://twitter.com/starlightocelot?lang=en">Twitter</a> for more nonsense.</p>
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